Peppernuts, also called Pfeffernüsse or päpanät in Southern Manitoba Mennonite families, are tiny spiced cookies often made for Christmas. Recipes vary widely across households and generations, and their early history is not firmly documented. This version follows a published Manitoba family recipe with brown sugar, lard, butter, anise and cloves. Despite the name, it contains no nuts or black pepper, and it is not vegetarian because it uses pork lard.
The dough is chilled, rolled into narrow logs and frozen before slicing, which makes the small rounds easier to handle. Bake until just set; they firm as they cool, so watch closely if you prefer a softer center.
Step 1Dissolve 0.5 g anise in 60 mL hot water and let it cool until lukewarm. In a bowl, cream 200 g brown sugar with 28 g lard and 28 g butter until evenly blended.
Step 2Pour in the cooled anise water and mix until combined. In a second bowl, whisk together 190 g flour, 2.3 g baking soda and 0.5 g ground cloves.
Step 3Stir the dry mixture into the sugar mixture to make a firm dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight; do not taste the raw dough.
Step 4Work with a small piece at a time and roll into ropes about 1.8 cm thick. Arrange the ropes on a tray and freeze at least 4 hours, until firm enough to slice cleanly.
Step 5Heat the oven to 177°C. Cut the frozen ropes into 1 cm rounds and space them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 8–9 minutes, until set with lightly browned bottoms; rotate trays if needed.
Step 6Leave the cookies on the tray for 8–10 minutes, then move them to a rack to cool fully. They firm as they cool. Bake remaining batches, then store airtight once completely cool.
This quarter batch makes about 150 small cookies, depending on how thick you roll the ropes and how wide you cut them. Serve with tea or coffee or add them to a holiday cookie tray. Once completely cool, store airtight at room temperature; trapped steam softens the cookies. The dough may be chilled overnight, and firm frozen logs can be wrapped and kept frozen for later baking.
Rounded estimate for 10 cookies, one-fifteenth of the quarter batch, using generic USDA FoodData Central values for brown sugar, lard, butter and flour. The whole batch is about 1,900 kcal. Cookie size, flour conversion and brands vary; this is not laboratory analysis or a product label.
Contains wheat and milk; made with pork lard, so this version is not vegetarian. It contains no egg or nuts. Do not taste raw dough because uncooked flour can carry harmful bacteria. Bake fully, then wash hands, bowls, utensils and work surfaces after flour contact.
Peppernuts are a family of small spiced cookies with many local recipes. The name is traditional; some versions use black pepper or nuts, while this Southern Manitoba version uses anise and cloves and contains neither.
