1 ½ c. sugar
¾ c. butter
¾ c. thick sour cream*
1c. dark Karo syrup
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
1 t. ground cloves
1 T. ground star anise
1 t. ginger
6+ c. flour
Cream butter and sugar. Mix in sour cream, syrup, soda, and spices. Add flour to make a stiff dough. Chill dough overnight.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Roll dough into “snakes” about ½“ in diameter. Lay 5-6 snakes next to each other and cut into ½“ lengths. Sprinkle onto cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Scrape off with spatula onto clean tea towel. Store in tin or glass.
*May be approximated with ¾ c. whipping cream and ¾ T. cider vinegar.
For those who don't know, peppernuts (pfefferneuse) are what I'd call an ethnic food for me... the area of Kansas where I grew up is populated by Swiss-German Mennonites and everyone has their own variation. This one started as my Great-Grandma Koehn's (my Mom's Dad's Mom) recipe and my mom upped the amounts of spices to her taste. They're a standard Christmas treat. Incidentally, it's the only food made with anise that I voluntarily eat (and like).
