Cream a cupful of butter with one of sugar, beat in a cupful of molasses, stir in a cupful of water, a teaspoonful each of ground ginger and cinnamon, a teaspoonful of allspice and a scant one of soda sifted with a pint and a half of flour. Add enough flour to make a dough that can be rolled out, roll thin, cut into rounds, and bake.
Pfeffernüsse
(A German recipe.)
One pound of fine flour, sifted; one teaspoonful of baking-powder; one pound of sugar, sifted; four large eggs; three ounces of citron; the grated rind of one lemon; one grated nutmeg; one teaspoonful of cinnamon; one scant teaspoonful of ground cloves. Mix the baking-powder and spices and sift with the flour, then work in the beaten eggs and sugar; form into small balls and bake in a slow oven. Place in a pan sufficiently far apart to allow them to swell to the size of macaroons when baked.
White peppernuts
Cream one and a half cupfuls of granulated sugar and a half-cupful of butter together, add three eggs, beaten light, a half cupful of milk, two teaspoonfuls of vanilla extract, and flour sifted with two even teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add this flour until stiff enough to roll out; roll a half inch thick, cut out with a thimble and bake in a hot oven. Care should be taken to put them so far apart that they will not run together in the baking.
Brown peppernuts
Three eggs; one cupful of brown sugar; a half-cupful of butter; one cupful of molasses; a half-cupful of sour or buttermilk; a teaspoonful of baking-soda; a scant teaspoonful of cinnamon and ginger, and flour enough to handle. Mix, roll out and bake as you would white peppernuts.
Peppernuts (No. 4)
Mix together half a pound of powdered sugar, the yolks of two eggs, one whole egg and a quarter-teaspoonful of potash procured from a druggist. Stir this well for fifteen minutes; add a quarter-ounce of ground cinnamon, a quarter-teaspoonful each of ground pepper and cloves, and the grated rind of a lemon. When all is well mixed, put with it half a pound of pastry flour. Knead well on a floured board, roll out about half an inch thick and cut into small rounds with a biscuit cutter. Bake in a greased tin in a very moderate oven.