German Lebkuchen

Ingredients

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• ½ cup molasses
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• ¼ cup honey
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• ¼ cup shortening
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• ¼ cup margarine
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• 2 large eggs
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• 4 cups all-purpose flour
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• ¾ cup white sugar
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• ½ cup brown sugar
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• 2 teaspoons anise extract
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• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
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• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
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• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
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• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
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• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
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• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
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• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
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• ½ teaspoon salt
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• 1 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting
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Instructions

1. 1
   Gather the ingredients.
2. 2
   Place molasses, honey, shortening, and margarine in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until creamy.
3. 3
   Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Beat in eggs.
4. 4
   Combine flour, white sugar, brown sugar, anise, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, black pepper, and salt in a large bowl.
5. 5
   Add molasses mixture; stir until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate dough until well chilled, about 2 hours.
6. 6
   Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Roll dough into acorn-sized balls and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets.
7. 7
   Bake in the preheated oven until firm to the touch with slight cracking, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets briefly before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. 8
   Dust cooled cookies with confectioners' sugar. Store in an airtight container.