Traditional pfeffernusse

Pfeffernusse is German for pepper nuts.  My husband's great grandmother used a thimble and a tooth pick to cut these out so they were the size and crunch of a nut...Labor intensive.

I use a sawed off Funnel.

The recipe is a total guestimate but these measurements worked for me this year with gluten free flour.

MELT TOGETHER
2 cups corn syrup (grandma used 1 cup dark and 1 cup light)
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
COMBINE ALL DRY INGREDIENTS
about 7 cups flour
spices are all heaping spoons
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
*dissolve 1 teaspoon baking soda in a little warm water
Melt together syrup, sugar, butter.  Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl (best to use a large tupperware with tight fitting lid)  Now combine all ingredients and add soda last.  Mix well ...knead dough if necessary. Place in warm place covered for 8 days...grandma used to knead the dough every day but i found if I used a tight fitting tupperware I could skip that part and the dough would be pliable to roll out.

Roll to 1/4" think and cut with funnel.  I had small sticks cut to make sure the 1/4 inch was uniform.  yields anywhere from 850-1200 cookies.