FAMILY MEDICINE® COLUMN
By John C. Wolf, D.O.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine®
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

SPRINGERLE COOKIES TAKE TWO AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING

In the spirit of good Christmas cheer, I've decided to give my readers a break from our usual discussions of human ailments and other health-care concerns. For the third year in a row, I'll take off my white lab coat and put on my chef's hat for a special Christmas column.

This year I want to share with you a recipe for one of my favorite holiday treats springerle cookies. Yes, these light-colored anise flavored cookies, like most cookies, have more sugar than I'd recommend for a regular diet. But, I offer them as a prescription for good holiday eating, as long as you don't exceed the recommended dosage: one batch shared liberally with others once a year!

I'll give you the ingredients first:

4 eggs

1 pound of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 pound flour (reserve 1/3 cup)

2 Tablespoons melted butter

4 drops anise oil

anise seeds

Beat the eggs until very light and foamy. Then, add the sugar gradually while beating. Continue beating until creamy. Add 1/2 of the flour, all of the baking powder, melted butter and anise oil. Beat until smooth. Add the remaining flour while reserving 1/3 cup. Mix well, then chill the dough overnight.

Role the chilled dough on a floured pastry cloth to 1/2 inch thickness. The dough now needs to be shaped into traditional springerle shapes. In Europe, from at least the 17th century to the present, elaborate molds have been used to create cookies of festive and artistic designs. I use a carved rolling pin that imprints a design on the dough creating a series of cookies about 1 1/2 inches square. They aren't as elaborate as the cookies created using one of the intricately carved European molds, but they look nice and taste just as good. If you don't have a specially designed mold or rolling pin, cut the dough into 1 inch by 2 inch rectangles.

Sprinkle anise seeds on a piece of wax paper. Then, gently press the shaped cookies onto the seed covered paper to imbed a few seeds into the bottom surface of each one. Leave the cookies on the paper to dry for 12 hours.

Bake the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet at 300 degrees. Bake until the bottom edges just begin to turn color about 15 minutes. Don't over bake these cookies! Cool on the sheet before removing. Once cool, these cookies will keep for weeks if stored in an air-tight container. However, when I'm around, they usually don't last long enough for anyone to worry about them getting stale.

Springerle cookies are rather hard. I enjoy their crunchy texture and subtle anise flavor most when consumed with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee. I also think they are best served to good friends with accompanying holiday cheer.

Family Medicine® is a weekly column. To submit questions, write to John C. Wolf, D.O., Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Grosvenor Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701.