Pfeffernusse

A month from today is Christmas Eve! Every year, it seems to sneak up on me. The past couple weeks have been very busy and I hadn't had a chance to test out a new Christmas cookie recipe. Early in the afternoon on Wednesday,  I mixed up the batter, covered it up and put it in the fridge with the intention of baking them about 10:30 p.m. Well, Lauren, the hubby and I ended up getting into a very lengthy game of Monopoly. We had set a time limit of 11 p.m. and by the time we added up our money and properties it was past 11:15 p.m. I'm a "night owl," but even to me that seemed late to start baking cookies! On Thanksgiving, after the turkey, rolls and pumpkin pie were done, the oven was finally free! I pulled the batter out and started rolling the cookies. They were in the oven about 20 minutes and then I let them cool a bit. Next, they were covered generously in powdered sugar. The "kids," were both interested in a "taste test."  These were so yummy and were a hit with my family!! Awesome!!! P.S. these cookies are delish for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee😀.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon anise seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup molasses, unsulfured

1 large egg

1 cup powdered sugar, reserved

In a medium bowl, put the flour, salt, black pepper, anise seeds, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg. Set aside. In a large bowl, put the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Beat by hand or with electric mixer for about two minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well with large spoon. Pour the mixture from the medium bowl into the large bowl and mix well with a large spoon. Cover with plastic and put in the fridge for a minimum of eight hours. When ready to bake, remove from fridge and roll into 30 equal-sized balls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Put 15 balls at a time on the cookie sheet and bake for  20 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are turning slightly brown. Remove from oven and place the cookies on a baking rack for five minutes. In a small bowl, put the one cup of powdered sugar and while the cookies are still warm, roll them completely in the powdered sugar. Return them back to the baking rack to finish cooling. Store covered at room temperature.