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Janet's Springerle Page
The Essence of Springerles
Certainly the most conspicuous feature of springerles are the raised pictures. While they make the cookies beautiful to serve and fun to eat, this isn’t really why I love them so much. It’s in fact the lemony flavor and slightly chewy texture. Lemony? Yes, it's true that most people would say the essence of springerles is anise - the taste that many people associate with licorice. While in some traditional sense they're right, there's much more to the story than anise...
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Misconceptions
Springerles are nasty because they taste like licorice
As someone who loves springerles but doesn't care for licorice, to me this is mostly a matter of degree. The amount of anise flavor is, or should be, mild enough not to overpower other flavors such as lemon. And even though I personally like the lemon-anise combination, and will allow that anise is fundamental to traditional springerles, I don’t think people should be denied the joy of springerles just because they can’t abide anise. If this describes you or your family, consider omitting the anise or making a differently flavored springerle entirely (see below).
Springerles are hard as rocks
While the outside of springerles is hard, rather like a thin crust, the inside is - or should be- soft. Springerles keep well and, in fact, are improved by several days’ aging, but they do need to be airtight. Otherwise they will, in fact, become as hard as rocks!
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Springerles are similar to shortbread
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While both cookies can be molded, in other ways they're almost opposites. Shortbread is known for its rich, buttery flavor and texture, whereas springerles typically contain no butter or shortening except that used to grease the pans. It's almost surprising, in fact, that something so low in fat can be so delicious!
Springerles are REALLY tricky to make
Maybe people have this impression because the cookies are so pretty that they look as if they must be difficult. It's true that some beginners learn by baking with an experienced springerle baker, or even taking classes. These are great ways to learn from those who kindly share their skills with others. But don't be shy about trying springerles just because you don't have access to such a person.
All baking requires the ability to follow a recipe and measure carefully. But if you've baked other kinds of cookies or cakes, you should have no problem with springerles. We hope the information on this page will help you begin your own springerle tradition.
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Multiple flavors?
Many kinds of candies, baked goods, and desserts are defined not by the flavoring, but by everything about them other than the flavoring. (Think fudge, cheesecake, and of course ice cream.) There's no reason why this can't be true for springerles as well. Americans tend not to be enamored with anise, which may be why my alternative springerles made with almond flavoring instead of lemon and anise are generally more popular with first timers than the traditional cookies.
You can find recipes for other flavors on various websites, including those that sell molds. In addition, I hope to add more of my own variations to this website in the future.
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The "tricks" to making good springerles
Use brand-name all-purpose flour
This would not have occurred to me if I hadn’t once helped a friend make springerles with a budget flour her husband had purchased. No matter how much extra flour we added, the dough seemed too soft. We finally realized from the grainy texture that the flour wasn’t milled finely enough.
Measure the eggs
This technique goes back to my childhood when my family bought eggs from a friend whose eggs tended toward extra large. My mother remarked that the springerles were so nice and soft when made with “the Johnson’s eggs.” Even as a teen I reasoned that it should be possible to make equally soft springerles with other eggs, so I measured the eggs to find out how much we were really using. Ever since then, my recipe calls not for four eggs, but for one cup eggs.
Limit oils and flavorings when there’s a good alternative
Use lemon zest rather than lemon oil, and anise seed rather than anise flavoring. Oils and flavorings have their place, but it’s way too easy to end up with an overly strong or bitter flavor.
Work on the kitchen table
You will want to roll and press your dough on a low surface (about 30") so that you can put your weight on the springerle board when pressing the design.
Flour the dough, not the board
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Sometimes I see references to flouring the springerle board, as if the flour will even stick to it. It’s so much easier and more effective to flour the surface of the dough. A good coat of flour will keep the dough from sticking to the mold 99% of the time. In her book Springerles-Back-Lust (in German), Elke Knittel shows exactly how it's done:
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Choice of leavening
A few years ago I learned that the traditional leavening for springerles is hartshorn (baker's ammonia) as opposed to the more common baking powder. As the springerle devotee I am, I purchased a jar, thinking I should definitely give it a try. Every time, however, that I've made springerles since then, I wasn't in the mood to experiment with something that to me was already almost perfect.
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Elke Knittel's recipe, otherwise similar to my own, uses hartshorn. On the other hand, she also offers a recipe for springerles made with baking powder, opining that baking powder is fine for small springerles, but makes large ones puff up too much. While this hasn't been my experience, I don't have the benefit of actually trying both.
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How to spell and pronounce the cookie
One Springerle (sounds like "springer-lee")
Two Springerles (sounds like "springer-lees")
In German, the singular and plural of this word are both spelled Springerle, and pronounced approximately "shpringerluh". Some English speakers may choose to pronounce it the German way. However, I learned the word from my father, who grew up among English-speaking cultural Germans, and he pronounced it as if it were "springerlee" for one cookie, or "springerlees" for many. Since very few foreign words are pronounced exactly the same when imported into English, this seems to me a perfectly good pronounciation. In fact, before I knew differently, I thought the word was spelled “springerlie”.
The word is so rare in American English that even Merriam Webster's online dictionary offers only a German pronunciation. But as support for our German American pronunciation, here's an excerpt from an article by journalist Tracy Sutton:
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Springerles, anise-flavored Christmas cookies with elaborate molded designs, may be familiar to folks with a German heritage. Springerle (pronounced in English as SPRINGER-lee and in German as SCHPRING-uh-LUH) are "picture cookies" that date back to the 1500s in Europe where they were once made year round to celebrate significant events such as holidays, weddings and births. The cookies were made from detailed wood-carved molds, many of which can be found in museums today. These days springerles mostly make an appearance at Christmastime. - Lancaster Farming, Lancaster, PA, Dec 13, 2009
While nobody knows for sure, the word is thought to come from the way the cookies pop up (spring) when they bake. This isn’t like popcorn - more like the way a soufflé rises. While all cookies rise as they bake, springerles are different because the top is hardened first, so it lifts up as one piece and all the rising is underneath. This gives the popped-up appearance.
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Springerle history
Springerle making dates back to at least the 1500s, the earliest known mold being from Switzerland. Early motifs were religious, and cookies were primarily made for religious occasions, especially Easter. Over the centuries more secular designs appeared, and springerlies became popular for all special occasions, especially weddings. It wasn't unusual for springerles to be given as tokens of love.
The association with Christmas developed over the 19th and 20th centuries, such that most people who make springerles at all only make them during the holiday season. This seems to be true in Europe as well as North America. While the heart of springerle country is probably Swäbia (the area around Stuttgart, Germany), the cookie is also popular in neighboring Alsace, German-speaking Switzerland, and, surprisingly, Hungary.
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From some of the German articles I've read, it's not unusual for springerle bakers to have not only a strong love of these cookies, but strong feelings about their particular way of making them. Then maybe that's true of all great foods!
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Springerle molds
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Springerle bakers owe much to the talented artists, both past and present, who've designed and carved molds for baking. While you may easily search online for cookie molds, here are my two favorite sources:
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Gene Wilson's Hand Carved Cookie Molds
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In the 1970s Gene taught himself to carve molds with a hand-held router, and has been in business since 1974. His molds are lovely, and one-of-a-kind. Here he is with his wife and router! If I had only one mold, it would be Gene's #38-1 Six Pix Christmas ($65). Note: some of Gene's molds have a knob on them that I'm guessing is intended for softer dough; I would not recommended this style for springerles.
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​ Fancy Flours (House-on-the-Hill molds)
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A number of year ago the family-owned House-on-the Hill company began reproducing antique molds in resin and selling them online. They then added new, contemporary designs, plus matching cookie cutters for unusually shaped springerles. Recently they stopped selling directly to consumers, but you can buy all their products at Fancy Flours. If you're thinking Christmas, a great starter (or only) mold would be the 6-part Holiday Delights ($36.50).
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You may wonder about using a carved rolling pin instead of a board. Most designs are available only as boards, and that's generally what I'd recommend. I've also tried a rolling pin, however, and it did work surprisingly well.
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Rectangular mutli-part molds are made with the idea you'll cut the cookies apart with a knife after pressing. This is the traditional way. If you use a single round design, you'll cut the cookies out of the dough with a round cookie cutter instead. If you use some special shape such as a heart, you'll need a matching cookie cutter, as sold by Fancy Flours.
Think twice about molds larger than six rectangular cookies. The larger they are, the more pressure is required to press the design!
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My springerle recipe - ALMOST guaranteed
Elke Knittel introduces her recipe as "mit Erfolgsgarantie" - with guaranteed success. This makes me chuckle, since nobody in the U.S. is safe to guarantee anything anymore. Realizing that much of what we do when we make springerles may not be obvious for first-timers, I've tried to include everything I can think of that might trip you up in a "detailed version" of the recipe.
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Janet's Springerle Recipe - Detailed version
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Springerle made with Gene Wilson's Six Pix Christmas mold
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