Holiday Lebkuchen | Gingerbread Cake Recipe
Lightly sweet and full of warm spices, lebkuchen is a classic German treat for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. This gingerbread cake recipe comes together very quickly in a baking dish.
Nothing says holidays and Christmas more than this lebkuchen recipe. Unlike crisp American gingerbread, this delightful German dessert is soft. While both include warm spices like clove and cinnamon, the German recipe includes cacao powder.
Lebkuchen cookies are popular, but the gingerbread cake recipe is what I will be sharing with you.
My grandmother used to make a big batch every year, to enjoy in the afternoon with coffee or tea. This recipe is as close as I can make it to what I remember from my childhood.
We love eating this gingerbread on its own, but it is also fantastic to use in other recipes, such as our traditional Christmas dinner with brown gingerbread sauce.
👉 Note: I have heavily updated this recipe since I first posted it in November 2021.
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Reasons to make my lebkuchen recipe
Ingredients and Substitutions
Except for the spice blend, you may have all the ingredients in your kitchen already:
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour. However, you can use spelt flour or einkorn flour, or replace up to half of the AP flour with whole grain flour.
- Cacao powder: This will give these German Lebkuchen their distinct dark color but also depth of flavor.
- Honey: I like using honey as a natural sweetener. Even more so, the honey also gives these Lebkuchen a traditional flavor.
If you like Lebkuchen sweeter, you can use additional liquid sweetener, but you will then need to adjust the recipe by using more flour. - Butter: You can use either unsalted or salted butter. I use homemade churned butter. If you use salted butter, you don’t need to include the salt this recipe calls for.
- Lebkuchen spice: You can easily buy premixed spices in Germany. You can find this Lebkuchen spice mixture here as well. If you’re like me, you might like to make it yourself (instructions below). In a pinch, you could use gingerbread spices or pumpkin pie spice but your Lebkuchen won’t have the traditional taste and flavor.
- Salt: I like to add a pinch of salt to any sweet baked goods, as salt really brings out the sweetness.
- Baking powder: If you haven’t used it in a while, it’s a good idea to test the baking powder for freshness. Typically, baking powder and baking soda will stay active for up to 9 months.
Lebkuchen spice blend
This will give you enough spice mixture to make this lebkuchen recipe. However, you can easily double or triple the amounts. You can use either pre-ground spices or grind whole spices yourself. If you’re using whole spices, you can grind them in a coffee grinder or dedicated spice grinder.
In a small bowl, combine:
- 1 tsp anise
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp coriander
- ½ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1/8 tsp pepper
How to make lebkuchen
As you will see, making this gingerbread cake recipe is very simple. You won’t even need an electric mixer!
- Combine the wet ingredients and mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Grease and flour a baking dish.
- Transfer the batter to the baking dish. Bake at 350˚F for 35 mins.
Optional: Dust the cool cake with powdered sugar or add a chocolate glaze before cutting.
Useful tools and equipment
Other than a large mixing bowl and a whisk, you don’t need much. Here are some items that I find very useful:
- silicone spatulas: Even though I own three, I often feel I could use more. They come in so handy when transferring something from one container to the next.
- glass baking dish: There are many ways you can bake gingerbread cake, but I prefer glass baking dishes. If you want a higher cake, you can use an 8″ square baking dish, and if you want a flatter cake, you can use a 9″ by 13″ baking dish.
- Lebkuchen spice blend: There are 8 different spices in the gingerbread cake. I make a batch at the beginning of the holiday baking season, but you can also buy a premade lebkuchen spice blend.
- Pumpkin pie spice
Serving suggestion
We love eating the lebkuchen just as it is. However, both for looks and a slightly sweeter taste you can dust the top with powdered sugar or add a chocolate icing.
Because they are so versatile, you could use them for other recipes such as bread puddings, trifle, tiramisu, over a cup of yogurt, or our favorite, in our traditional Christmas dinner, the gingerbread sauce.
Holiday Lebkuchen | Gingerbread Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup honey feel free to add more if you like it sweeter
- ½ cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 TBSP cacao powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tsp Lebkuchen spices see notes below
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350˚F. Melt the butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, honey, and eggs. Mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients.
- Lightly grease and flour a baking dish.
- Transfer the dough to the baking dish. Using a silicone spatula, spread evenly.
- Bake the Lebkuchen for about 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
- You can make your own Lebkuchen spice by combining 1 tsp anise, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp coriander, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp cloves, ¼ tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp cardamom, 1/8 tsp pepper
- While very flavorful and best after one day, it is not very sweet! You can always add extra sugar (white or dark) or honey to it.
- You can use an 8″ square baking dish or if you’d like your Lebkuchen pieces to be shorter, you can use a 9″x13″ baking dish.
Video
Nutrition
Thank you, Anja, for the recipe! However, the cake came out very dense using 4 cups of flour. I wonder if you can share the original measurement for the flour. bc on the video, it looks like 2 cups and says 3 cups. But the written recipe calls for 4 cups. Thank you very much!
Thank you so much! That recipe is on my update list because not everyone is having great success with it. It should be updated and posted in a few weeks so stay tuned. Hope that helps ~ Anja
Can’t wait to try theses they look amazing
Yay, I am so glad to hear that! Happy baking ~ Anja
Can you clarify if the measurements are imperial? I had noticed in another comment you mentioned converting to imperial from metric. I just need to know if I have to convert to metrics, otherwise could you provide the grams within the ingredients list?
The measurements in this recipe are imperial but you should be able to easily convert to metric ~ Anja
These sound really yummy!
I have every spice except anise, but I do have fennel seed (my home-grown!!). Is it the licorice flavour that you are going for in the spice blend, or is there something else about anise that is needed? Do you think I could use fennel instead of anise? There is still some growing fresh outside (it’s pretty hardy and we really haven’t been that cold yet), if that would make a difference, it’s more licorice-y and less “earthy”. Oh, and another question regarding the spice mix, are they all powdered?
Thank you! 🙂
Yes, the spices are all powdered and you can absolutely make your own mix. However, trust me, the anise seed won’t stand out in taste ~ Anja
So do you think I could sub ground fennel seed for the anise?
Fennel might have a stronger taste but you can always try and see how you like it ~ Anja
We often use anise oil. Which we get at specialty food stores or from the pharmacy. But it is very potent unlike star anise. Fennel and star anise both have licorice flavor, but when baked often lose their flavor. It is something you have to experiment with. In cookies we use the anise oil but in baked breads we often use the dry ingredients.
Hi,
What size baking dish does this recipe need?
Thank you!
I think mine is a 9″x15″ but any size works (you might have to adjust baking time accordingly) ~ Anja
Hello, I’m a little confused though. In your video you “say” 2 cups of flour and correct it on the screen noting “3 cups”. In the written recipe it saids 4 cups of flour. Could you clarify please? I’m very interested in trying this recipe.
Thank you.
Yes, I had some issues dialing in the conversion from metric to imperial. 4 cups of flour it is! Happy baking ~ Anja
Made this after soaking overnight for dessert on Family Night. It was absolutely delicious! Even the grands said it was their favorite by far. Thanks again for a great recipe Anya.
Aww … your comment absolutely made my day! Thank you so much for sharing ~ Anja
Can this recipe or the classic-cinnamon-star-cookies be made with gluten free flour?
Hi Susan, the classic cinnamon star cookies actually don’t contain any flour! As for the Lebkuchen, I would say that a gluten-free flour should work but I have not tried it myself. Hope that helps and happy baking ~ Anja
This looks so good!!!! I love the combination of spices. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for sharing!
I made these today, and they are so yummy and delicious. I love this recipe, and have forwarded it to all my friends. Every one of your recipes are fantastic. Thanks for sharing this perfect holiday recipe.
I’m excited to try this! Sounds like it will taste like Christmas!
We just made stollen this past week, I can’t wait to try this as well!
Sounds great! Thank you so much and happy baking ~ Anja
I totally forgot about lebkuchen! My grandma used to make it at Christmas time. I’m definitely going to make it now!
I can’t wait to make these! If I want to gift them (which I do) how long do they keep for?