European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                              At left Lebkuchen cookies Roll off the Assembly line at a Plant in Nurnberg Germany for distribution in special tins below which Are often More popular than what s inside with americans. At right a boy bites into a familiar German treat a Lebkuchen Angel. The search for the real thing by Caroline  the Washington Post Here s something about traditional German cookies that makes people try to replicate their Complex tastes and textures often going to great lengths to succeed. Consider Sharon Isch of Washington who starts smacking her lips whenever she talks about her grandmother s Lebkuchen. A pleasantly spiced cookie Lebkuchen turns out to have As Many variations As Robin Williams has impersonations. Isch has tried Many recipes during her 20-year search for her grandmother s version. It s not an Uptown kind of Sweet but huge and homely a rough textured chewy netted cookie that s flecked with Nutmeg and cloves and wonderful with milk or cider when just made Isch says after the cookies get a Little age on them they re divine for  Isch s aunt Erma had Given her the recipe Many years ago but somehow it never worked. All i got was Rock hard projectiles she recalls. Finally Isch confessed the unthinkable to aunt Erma s son Gary maybe aunt Erma sabotaged the  surprisingly Gary agreed and the search was on for the real recipe. Calls went out to the few remaining elderly cousins who could have possibly had the recipe. A Lebkuchen recipe did turn up and it actually had grandmother s name on it. It had possibilities less flour and a lower oven temperature than aunt Erma s. And it had baking soda which aunt Erma s did Tisch says. But this recipe like most old ones did t specify the kind of flour the size of eggs or the Shade of Brown sugar to use. And it had no mixing instructions. We decided grandma s hens would have Laid medium size eggs guessed at the rest and gave the recipe a whirl. Bingo. I hit it on the first  was just a few months ago and Isch has made the recipe three times since then and each Batch makes 65 Large cookies. Although Lebkuchen is particularly popular during the Holiday season there is no reason it must be limited to that time of year. The same goes for a couple of other German Holiday favourites Spring Erle and Anise cookies. Home Cooks bake a Bunch any time they crave the special taste or festive Aroma. Following Are recipes for each. Lorinda Miller Isch s Lebkuchen 8 medium size eggs 2 pounds Light Brown sugar 1 Teaspoon ground Nutmeg 2 Teaspoons ground cloves 2 Teaspoons baking soda 1 Teaspoon Salt 7 cups a sifted All purpose flour 2 cups chopped walnuts. Shortening for greasing pan thin Glaze of confectioners sugar moistened with milk if using a heavy duty mixer beat eggs in a Large bowl at medium Speed for 2 or 3 minutes. Gradually add sugar s Vine Crawley then the Nutmeg cloves baking soda and Salt and continue beating until sugar is dissolved and Batter thickens. On Low Speed gradually add most of the flour. Switch to dough Hook and slowly knead in remaining flour and nuts. If mixing by hand whisk the eggs add sugar Nutmeg cloves baking soda and Salt continuing to whisk until the Batter is thick and forms ribbons. Pile the flour onto a clean counter top make a Well in the Center pour in the egg mixture and with the fingers gradually incorporate All the flour into the egg mixture. Add the nuts. Knead dough As you would bread dough for at least 10 minutes. On a cutting Board or other floured surface form dough into 3 or 4 cylinders about 21/2 inches in diameter. Cover loosely with a Kitchen Towel and let rest overnight. Note the . Department of agriculture advises against leaving perishable foods at room temperature for More than two hours. If you so choose add a Little extra flour to the dough chill it for about an hour then Cut and bake. They will have a slightly different texture however when ready to bake preheat oven to 325 degrees. With a Sharp knife slice dough about 5/a-Inch thick. Place cookies Cut Side Down 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Cover tops with a thin coating of confectioners sugar Glaze before baking. Bake on rack in the Center of the oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets promptly. When Cool store in tins or other airtight containers. The original recipe used no Salt and 1 cup of nuts. Makes Svi dozen Large cookies. Anise cookies 3 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 Tablespoon Anise seeds a Teaspoon Anise extract v4 Teaspoon baking powder 13/4 cups flour butter for pan with a heavy duty mixer mix the eggs with sugar at medium Speed for 30 minutes. Add Anise seeds and extract baking powder and then flour. Combine gently just until mixed. Drop by Small teaspoonfuls about 1 Byz inches apart on a greased cookie Sheet. Let dough stand uncovered at room temperature for at least 10 hours preferably overnight. Note the us a advises against leaving perishable foods at room temperature for More than two hours. If you so choose the cookies can be baked immediately but they will have a different texture and appearance bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 12 minutes. Makes 6 dozen. Spring Erle 4eggs 2 cups sugar 1 Teaspoon grated Lemon Rind 4 cups flour 1 Teaspoon baking powder 16 Teaspoon Salt 2 to 3 Tablespoons Anise seeds butter for pan place eggs sugar and Lemon Rind in the bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer beat about 30 minutes at medium Speed. Sift together flour baking powder and Salt. Add half at a time to egg and sugar mixture mixing until Well incorporated. Chill dough for about 8 hours. Roll dough to 1/4-Inch thickness or thicker if desired on pastry Board generously spread with flour. Prepare cookie sheets you will need at least two and probably three first by greasing them and then by sprinkling them liberally with Anise seed. Flour Spring Erle rolling pins or chilled Spring Erle cookie cutters. These wooden cutters have indented designs that when rolled Over the dough will form raised shapes and delicate Cut puts press into or Roll slowly Over dough bearing Down firmly and evenly to Cut designs in clearly. With knife Cut cookies apart and place on prepared cookie sheets. Let dough stand overnight uncovered at room temperature. Note the us a advises against leaving perishable foods at room temperature for More than two hours. If you so choose the dough can be baked immediately but cookies will have a different texture bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 15 minutes or longer if you be made a thicker Spring Erle until top is dried. Makes about 4 dozen. These cookies keep Well in a tight Container and get crisper the longer they Are allowed to sit. Biscuits treats for grown  by Nancy Mckeon the Washington Post Tyliah cookies Are grown up affairs that lend themselves to adult  of Crunchy Almond biscuits and you might envisage a Man and a woman lingering Coily in a cafe dipping the Biscotti into a shared Glass of Vin Santo a Sweet wine Only a grown up could love. Think of amaretto i Taronno those frightfully expensive Crisp macaroons wrapped in tissue paper that adults slowly savor with a bracing cup of espresso. These Are not the soft sugary orbs that americans Lap up with milk. They Are Subtle sophisticated with just a hint of sweetness and an Aura of pleasant Dalliance a California woman admitted she was thrilled to marry into an italian american family because of italian cookies even though she does t really like the biscuits. For her the sweets ensured Long Lazy epilogue to Happy meals around the family table time spent chatting while cookies were dipped in Coffee or wine. Given the Waves of Biscotti that continue to flood american markets we americans might think we have conquered the genre in fact we be confused the general category biscotto from 6/s.and cd to Means twice baked and stands for any biscuit with the particular treasure that has captured our hearts As Well As our commercial ovens the classic Almond studded Ria Otto or Gin Tuccio i Prato the dipping biscuit. This Basic kind of cookie has been dipped by people on the italian Peninsula since roman times said Carol Field author of several books on italian cooking the romans cooked them then cooked them again until the moisture was All gone said Field. Hence the biscuits incredible shelf life. Hence too the rite of dipping them in wine for people who have some consideration for their Teeth. There s even some evidence Field offered that the rations for Columbus Crew included a Savory version of the dipping cookie. It would have been made from twice baked unsalted bread dough the seamen would have softened and Flavoured by dipping in sea water of which they had plenty. The closest thing around today she surmised is a Ligurian biscotto dil Agaccio an Anise scented biscuit made with Sweet butter. R butter historically in Italy Well not really Field admitted but it s very hard to put lard in an american  hard but not impossible. Cookbook writer Mary Taylor Simeti includes it in her recipes because she said the traditional shortening for cooking and frying was lard especially in Sicily where really Good Olive Oil was too expensive. There Are wonderful Christmas things in Sicily with lard based crusts she said. Wonderful year round treats As Well including Simeti s version of sesame coated Regina cookies. Made with lard available at most supermarkets near the butter or in the meat Case with the Salt pork and a touch of cinnamon these Queen s cookies Are a revelation. A touch of sweetness a touch of spice altogether a very sophisticated cookie. Simeti s upcoming Book will contain the Regina recipe of an extremely poor sicilian household using lard and no eggs. The new recipe is a Stark biscuit Simeti explained. At the moment it s made with the very typical italian Carbonate of ammonia and has yet to be tested using baking powder for the american Market. Once it is it May or May not find favor in the states. But in t it interesting Field asked that the things we re coming Back to As healthful and pleasurable Are the tilings the poorest peasants have had to make do with some of these things like italian biscuits seen destined to become some of our most sophisticated pleasures. 16 the stars and stripes saturday january 8, 1994 the stars and stripes 17