I love my gingerbread cookies really spicy, so much so that these have so much ginger in they could be mistaken for a member of the weasley family (sorry I had to do that). I hate it when I buy a gingerbread cookie and the flavours are really subtle, if you like to be hit in the face with flavour then these are for you. i toned down the amount of nutmeg and clove i used for this recipe but feel free to add a little more. I got my pestle and mortar out and ground up some cardamom, anise seeds and pink pepper corns, then I added ground cinnamon, ginger, clove and freshly grated nutmeg. they remind me a bit of German lebkuchen cookies. I added some chopped pecans, chopped candied ginger and cacao nibs and some ginger crunch sprinkles (I found these in the supermarket) to give them some texture. I have tried several ways to bake them, in balls, as thumb prints and I eventually settled for them like this with the fork prints. the filling is pumpkin butter which is really easy to make. I had a few squashes that needed using up before I go on holiday this week so I roasted them all and made pumpkin puree to freeze and I kept about half a cup aside for this. some people on Instagram said that they would like the recipe for thanksgiving so I have got it together for you.

cookies makes about 30

notes these a very spicy so if you want it a little less strong then add about 1/8 tsp anise seeds instead. I used 1/4 clove originally but felt it may be better to add a little less for the recipe, I also used quite a lot of nutmeg originally but I have toned it down a little for you. to make them like the traditional lebkuchen cookies roll into balls and don’t flatten them and bake them for 10 minutes then coat them in water icing.

• 3/4 cups butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. dark brown soft sugar
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground clove (I originally used 1/4 tsp which made them very spicy)
• 1/4 tsp ground anise seeds
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I grated half a nutmeg which was about 1 and half tsp)
• seeds from 5 green cardamom pods (ground)
• 6 pink pepper corns (ground)
• 2 and 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp. molasses
• 2 tbsp. golden syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• handful of pecans,
• 3 tbsp. cacao nibs
• 4 tbsp. chopped candied ginger
• ginger sugar crunch sprinkles (optional)

in a food mixer with the paddle attachment mix the butter and sugars together until soft, then add the egg, vanilla, spices and syrup and molasses. then add the flour and baking powder and mix into a dough and add the chopped pecans, cacao nibs, chopped candied ginger. place in a bowl and cover and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or over night. then make the pumpkin butter.

• 1/2 heaped cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

add all the ingredients into a pan and stir together to melt the butter. the mixture will come together continue stirring until thick, about 5 to 10 minutes. pour into a bowl and let cool.

to bake the cookies.

preheat the oven to 180c 350f. roll into small balls and roll into some granulated sugar place on lined baking sheet and flatten slightly and press in a fork . leave space between each one so they can spread. bake for 10 minutes then cool. fill with pumpkin butter or eat as they are.