Homemade chocolate gingerbread are absolutely delicious: super moist and chocolaty, with wonderful winter spices in the dough and a crunchy glaze on top. Mild yet aromatic, these treats are not just great for kids but a fantastic Christmas treat for everyone 🙂
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Why You Should Make Chocolate Gingerbread at Home
Once you’ve tried how easy it is to bake soft gingerbread, you’ll never want to buy them again. This also applies to these chocolate gingerbread. Sure, you can find gingerbread hearts and stars cheaply in any supermarket, but they usually taste "cheap" and bland. Homemade ones with chocolate are delicious. The texture is soft and moist. The recipe is simple and quick, and you can eat the chocolate lebkuchen right away without needing any resting time. You can adjust the type and amount of spices to your liking. Also, these chocolate gingerbread do not contain candied orange peel or citron, which many people don't like.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This chocolate gingerbread recipe is a variation of my Elisenlebkuchen. You can find all the ingredients in your regular supermarket:
Finely grated or chopped chocolate is incorporated into the dough, with some cocoa powder to intensify the flavor. For the glaze, I recommend cake glaze, which gives a shiny finish without the need for tempering. Depending on your sweetness preference, you can use either dark chocolate or milk chocolate for both the dough and the decoration.
Almonds are the main ingredient by weight and contribute to the fine taste and moist texture of the chocolate lebkuchen. It doesn’t matter whether you use blanched or peeled almonds; hazelnuts also work well.
Wheat flour complements the almonds and stabilizes the dough with gluten. Light spelt flour (Type 630) also works just as well. A small amount of baking powder makes the chocolate lebkuchen fluffier.
Eggs (size M) give the dough volume and help bind the mixture together.
Brown sugar adds a subtle caramel flavor. White sugar or cane sugar can be used as alternatives.
Additional ingredients: A small amount of butter makes the dough even moister. Since this recipe doesn't include orange peel and citron, you’ll need more spices. I mix cinnamon with orange zest and pre-made gingerbread spice, but you can also create your own spice blend. Oblaten (wafer discs) form the base. I prefer small chocolate lebkuchen with a 50mm diameter.
Chocolate Gingerbread Recipe in 3 Steps
- Prepare the Dough: Like a cake batter, first whisk the butter, sugar, and eggs, then briefly mix in the dry ingredients. The dough will be quite sticky. Let it chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. This resting time helps the dough firm up and the flavors meld.
- Bake the Chocolate Gingerbread: Using a gingerbread bell will make your cookies especially beautiful. You can see how to use it in my Mandel Lebkuchen recipe. Place small spoonfuls of dough on the baking sheet, leaving space between them as they will spread slightly in the oven.
- Glaze and Decorate: The most even coating comes from dipping the chocolate gingerbread upside down into the liquid glaze. You can also brush it on. For decoration, colorful sprinkles, chopped almonds, nuts, or pistachios work wonderfully.
My Baking Tips
Correct Consistency: For soft and moist chocolate gingerbread, the dough needs to be quite sticky and moist. You can use a lebkuchen bell (dipped in hot water between uses) to shape the dough, or simply spread it out. If the dough is too sticky, you can knead in an extra 1-2 tablespoons of flour after chilling.
Right Baking Time: Don’t bake them too long. They should still feel soft when you take them out of the oven and will harden slightly as they cool.
How to Modify Your Chocolate Gingerbread
Without Oblaten: You can easily bake chocolate gingerbread without wafer discs. However, you will need a bell for shaping the dough, or else you’ll have nowhere to spread it.
Healthier Variations: For gluten-free chocolate gingerbread, you can use cornstarch instead of flour. For a sugar-free version, opt for sugar-free chocolate and brown erythritol. However, this version will have a shorter shelf life due to the absence of sugar. I wouldn’t veganize this recipe, as it contains quite a few eggs, but you can adjust other vegan gingerbread recipes by adding chocolate to the dough.
Storage Tips
These simple chocolate gingerbread don’t need any resting time; they are soft and tasty right away. Store them in a well-sealed cookie tin or Tupperware in a cool place. They will keep for about 2-3 weeks. You can also freeze them and let them thaw slowly in the tin before decorating.
Enjoy and feel free to try the traditional gingerbread (Lebkuchen) and the gingerbread men cookies.
Recipe Card
Chocolate Gingerbread
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 60 g (⅓ cup) chocolate, see tips
- 40 g (3 tablespoons) soft butter
- 130 g (⅔ cups) brown sugar
- 4 medium-sized eggs, room temperature
- 250 g (2 cups) ground almonds or hazelnuts
- 150 g (1 ⅓ cups) wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder, slightly heaping
- 15 g (3 tablespoons) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons Lebkuchen spice mix
- ½ teaspoon grated orange peel, optional
For finishing:
- 25 Lebkuchen wafers, approximately 50mm
- 200 g (¾ cup) chocolate coating, approx. amount
Instructions
- Grate or finely chop the chocolate. In a stand mixer, briefly combine the soft butter with the brown sugar, then beat in the eggs one by one.
- Mix the almonds with the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, gingerbread spice mix, and orange peel (if using). Add the mixture along with the chocolate to the egg-sugar mixture and quickly knead everything together into a homogeneous, somewhat sticky dough. Let the dough rest covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (345°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a gingerbread bell (dipped briefly in water) to place the dough onto the wafers. Alternatively, you can spread the dough onto the wafers using a knife or small offset spatula. Make sure to space the Lebkuchen apart on the baking sheet, as they will spread slightly while baking.
- Bake the gingerbread for about 14-15 minutes. Be careful not to bake them too long—they should still feel soft when they come out of the oven.
- Let the gingerbread cool. Melt the chocolate coating in a water bath or microwave on low heat. Either brush the Lebkuchen with the melted chocolate or dip them upside down into the coating. Optionally, decorate with colorful sugar sprinkles, chopped nuts, pistachios, or anything else you like.
Notes
- Chocolate Type: Depending on how sweet you want the gingerbread, you can use either dark or milk chocolate for both the dough and the coating. White icing is also great for decoration.
- Form Tip: A gingerbread bell creates especially neat Lebkuchen. With it, you can skip the wafers and just place the dough directly on the parchment paper.
- Size: I prefer the gingerbread small (about 5 cm or 2 inches) and get about 25-30 pieces from this recipe. You can also make them larger, but the number will decrease.
- Storage: The gingerbread don’t need to sit and mature; they are soft and delicious right away. Store them in an airtight container or Tupperware in a cool place. They also freeze well (with or without the coating); thaw them slowly in the container and then decorate.
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