Peppernuts (Pfeffer nuesse)

I am a grandmother to 7 fantastic children ages 3 to 17. They all enjoy home baking, be it bread, cinnamon buns, monster cookies and especially at this time of the year, peppernuts (pfeffer nuesse). As soon as the first snow falls (and this could be as early as October) one grandson is sure to call and remind me that it is time for the peppernuts to be baked.

This is my mother Tina Regier’s recipe. She would bake enough peppernuts to fill large flour sacks, and then hide these from my brothers. Thus we would still have peppernuts for Christmas.

Being a great granddaughter of Peter Regier who was a member of the group that planned the very first Canadian Mennonite Conference of Canada, I feel it is a privilege to be part of the Mennonite women’s organization in Canada, if only through this blog.

Ingredients

2 cups syrup (Rogers Golden)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup melted butter or margarine
2 large eggs
1 tsp soda in 1/2 cup sour milk
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp star aniseed
Approximately 6 1/2 cups flour

Heat syrup and add sugar and melted margarine and spices.
Cool and add eggs, soda in sour milk (you can add a little vinegar to regular milk).
Add flour gradually.
Cover and refrigerate.
Make long rolls of dough, chill and cut into peppernuts.
Bake at 350 for approximately 10 minutes, until brown.
For harder, crunchier peppernuts, bake slightly longer.

Elva (Regier) Epp
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan