Measurements [metric]
- 4 eggs
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp. grated fresh lemon rind
- 4 cup sifted flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Lump of butter the size of a walnut
- Anise seed
Beat the eggs and powdered sugar by hand for 30 minutes (or cheat and use a Kitchenaid mixer for 15 minutes).
Add flour, lemon rind and baking powder. Mix until the dough becomes heavy. (Cheat with a Kitchenaid mixed paddle)
Roll out on a floured board to 3/8 inch thickness. Lightly dust with flour to keep mold from sticking.
Press Springerle mold into the dough. Then cut into shapes.
Lay cookies on anise seed sprinkled on a greased baking sheet and let dry out in a cool room overnight.
Bake the next morning for 30 minutes at 300 degrees F.
My maternal Grandmother and Grandfather Scheihing and their children spent hours every Christmas making Springerles in Oklahoma when it was a Territory and later a State. The recipe came from Christiana Dorothea Munk Scheihing, my great-grandmother who brought it from Untertürkheim, Württemberg when she and her husband, Johann Gottlieb Scheihing, emigrated to the USA in 1869.
Making Springerles was a family undertaking, with the children, including my Mother, taking turns beating the eggs and powdered sugar by hand. Grandpa, Karl Wilhelm Scheihing (called "Charley") rolled the dough and pressed the designs, then cut the cookies. The children placed the cookies on anise seed sprinkled on baking pans to dry. Eleanora baked them the next morning.
The Springerle mold used was one brought to the USA Charley's parents.
When I was a boy my Mother, Clara Scheihng Benson, baked Springerles every Christmas, my Father, older Brother and I taking turns beating the dough my hand.
I bake Springerles every Christmas and use Great-grandpa Scheihing's Springerle mold, as well as others I acquired while living in Tübingen during graduate study.