Vintage Eats Guest Recipe: 1960 Pfeffernuesse Cookies

Today’s Vintage Eats recipe of Pfeffernuesse Cookies (pronounced feff-er-noose) is shared by Michael ‘Mike’ Vorndran of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

I met Mike a few years ago while doing a talk about my interviews with 260 World War II vets for a genealogy group at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mike is heavily involved with his family’s genealogy.

When he heard about my interest in preserving recipes that have been shared through generations in families, he contributed this charming story.

“About 10 years ago, I attended a fundraiser at a home near my neighborhood on the northeast side of Fort Wayne. Upon

Introducing myself to the hosts, they asked if I was related to a family named Vorndran who used to live on Maumee Avenue in the city.

I told them yes, that would be the home where my dad and his 10 siblings were raised. 

The hosts told me that when they had been a young couple in the mid-1960’s, they had rented a home my grandpa had built behind their main home. The couple further shared several stories about my grandpa that made me laugh.

Then, they produced a recipe for Pfeffernuesse Cookies that my grandmother had handwritten for the lady host. The host had saved it and she gave me the original copy from my grandma. 

My Grandma Elsie died when I was seven years old from cancer. One thing I remember about her is that when my brother, Paul, and I went over there, she gave us a cookie she had made.

I don’t remember if pfeffernuesse cookies were among the ones she gave us, but I would bet that they were because I’ve always enjoyed that flavor of cookie!

I like to think that this recipe came from the old country along with Grandma Vorndran’s mother Henrietta Kallenbach Lehmann, who was an immigrant from Karlsbrunn, Germany.

I’ve always thought if you feed a kid, they will most likely always remember you so I try to pass that tradition down to my great nieces and nephews.”

**

Thanks, Mike, for such a great story!

Keep reading for his family’s pfeffernuesse recipe below.

Note: Upon looking up the spelling for this cookie, I found it as ‘pfeffernusse.’ In respect to Grandma Elsie, I’m using the spelling she used as printed on her recipe card.

The fabric-covered bottle cap Christmas tree was made by Jane Reusser, my beloved mother-in-law, in the 1990s. It is displayed in our home each year.

Pfeffernuesse Cookies

3 c. sifted flour

2 t. baking powder

2 T. cinnamon

1 t. cloves

½ t. nutmeg

1 c. thinly sliced citron (large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind)

Grated peel of one lemon

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

Sift flour, baking powder and spices.

Add citron & lemon peel.

Beat eggs & sugar until thick

Add flour to make a smooth dough, roll thin & cut with a cookie cutter or top of a bottle.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees on a greased cooky sheet about 15 minutes or until light brown.

Roll in powdered sugar when cool. These cookies don’t spread and are crispy which is how we like them. I think they were tasty without the powdered sugar.

Makes 4 dozen.

My notes:

• Full confession – I didn’t use citron. My two small-town groceries didn’t carry it. When I looked for it online, it was around $10.00+ for a bottle. Considering this was a spice I was not likely to use until next Christmas, I didn’t purchase it.

Instead, I used 1 t. lemon juice. No complaints from those who enjoyed the cookies.

• I rolled the end of the dough to save time.

• Not having a round cookie cutter (I know there is a vintage one around here somewhere!), I used a drinking glass.

If you have a recipe you’d like considered for this column, please leave a comment.  

Mike Vorndran’s Grandma Elsie and her youngest child, Catherine, sit before houses the Vorndrans rented.

Vintage Find of the Week:

I love cake plates! At one time I owned 14 before deciding they took a lot of room to store and I sold them – all but three which I couldn’t part with.

This is a new addition, purchased recently at a church rummage sale for $5.00. It holds the pfeffernuesse cookies in the photo.

There is no name or identification mark on it, but that’s ok. I didn’t buy it for its value, but for its beauty. It will get a workout this Christmas, holding everything from cheese ball to cookies to whatever else I can think of!

Let me know if you make the pfeffernusse recipe and what you think. Have a good week!

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