Cookies for Easter

It's that time of the year again when I get to bake these cookies....

Before baking

Even if I've made them in different moulds many times now, the outcome never ceases to fascinate me! The details are just amazing!

After baking

Springerle cookies differ from most cookies as it uses baker's ammonia as the leavening agent.  (Baker's ammonia was the primary leavening agent used before baking soda and baking powder came to being. ) They have to be air-dried for about 24 hours before baking in order to keep the integrity of their design and are baked at quite a low temperature, resulting in a white cookie.  They are soft and cakey, rather than crisp or crunchy. They are traditionally flavoured with anise but since I don't like anise, I use vanilla extract as flavouring instead.

Springerle moulds are quite expensive and hard to find here in Australia. I have 7 of them now but I bought them one at a time over the course of three years 😉. I only make these cookies for special occasions like Christmas and Easter.

Last October, when two of my kids flew to the US to attend their cousin's wedding in NY, I sent over these...

I made sure I packed the cookies really, really well so they would make it to the US intact! Thankfully, they did!

Last Christmas season, I sent another batch overseas, this time to my family in the Philippines.  My brother, who also lives here in Melbourne, went home for another brother's 60th birthday.

If you would like to learn how to make springerle cookies, HERE is where I learned to make them from.  You can find a lot of moulds online especially in the US.  One of my favourite shops to get them from is this Etsy shop. In Australia, I found some here. I hope you will be encouraged to try them!

I wish you all a blessed and meaningful Holy Week. May you experience Christ's glorious Resurrection and be filled with true Easter Joy all the days of your life!



PS.  I have listed another four "Cakes from the Heart" softcover books in my Etsy.  As these copies were printed before the error on the Yema Cake page was discovered, I will be sending the corrected PDF along with the book. Anyone interested, just head on over to my shop!