Lebkuchenherzen Recipe- German Gingerbread Hearts | Oktoberfest (2024)

With this easy Lebkuchenherzen recipe you can create these iconic gingerbread heart cookies yourself. No Oktoberfest, Kirmes or Christmas market without bringing back a German Gingerbread Heart. Delicious flavours of honey, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg make this traditional Lebkuchen cake a special treat. Decorated with sugar icing and inscribed with a fun or meaningful phrase, these heart cookies are the perfect gift.

I am the first to admit that I struggled with decorating the hearts. I am not artistically inclined, but I wanted to share this traditional German recipe with you. As others may find decorating a lot easier than me, and the cake itself is delicious. I can vouch for that.

What Are German Gingerbread Hearts?

Gingerbread hearts are traditional German gingerbread biscuit-like cakes decorated with icing. They are typically flat, plate-sized heart-shaped cookies that are decorated with royal icing. They are made of Lebkuchen, which is a cake made from honey and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves.

You will find these gingerbread hearts typically sold at any larger German fair such as Oktoberfest, Christmas Markets or Kirmes. They are popular souvenirs and are great as gifts.

Lebkuchenherz translates as "gingerbread heart in English." "Lebkuchen" is the German word for Gingerbread. "Herz" means "Heart" in English.

As an English speaker, you would pronounce it "LEB-COOK-EN-HE-TS".

Another name for the Oktoberfest is "Wiesn". This is because the first festival took place in a large meadow, which in Germany is called "Wiese". So in Germany, an Oktoberfest heart is also known as "Wiesn Herz"

Origin of gingerbread heart tradition in Germany

The history of the Lebkuchenherz began in the 1960s. The inventor of gingerbread was a baker from Munich called Gustav Tschernich. He originally came from the Czech Republic and was a merchant as well as an artist at the Oktoberfest. Tschernich was annoyed about the fragility of chocolate hearts that were sold at the time. So he invented the Lebkuchen hearts and decorated them with sugar icing and a nice inscription. These hearts were such a success that from then on he delivered these edible heart ornaments to many Oktoberfest stalls. Soon they were sold at any large fair in Germany.

How to make Gingerbread Hearts?

These Lebkuchen Herzen are easy to make from scratch. My advice is: give yourself enough time for this recipe as you will have to do a lot of waiting. Waiting for the cake batter to cool down, waiting for the dough to rest, and waiting for the icing to set. However, the wait will be worth it! Trust me!

Equipment needed

Heart shape cookie cutter template

The most important tool is the heart shape. You can buy them UK Link or USA Link (affiliate links) or cut out your template and trace them with a knife.

I have added my template here for FREE. Just download it, print it and cut it out. I cut out a template on some cardboard and then wrapped it in clingfilm to stop it from sticking to the dough.

This recipe makes around 8 gingerbread hearts using my template.

In short: Essential equipment (affiliate links)

• heart shaped cookie cutter or free template
• baking parchment
• small saucepan
• piping bag with star tip and fine writing tip
• OR icing syringe
• Bands to attach hang up the cards
• Clingfilm to wrap the hearts in

Lebkuchen Heart Cookie Ingridients:

• 100 g/ 3.5 oz unsalted butter
• 225 g/ 8 oz honey
• 125 g /4.4 oz sugar
• 2 teaspoon gingerbread spice (I would recommend using my homemade Lebkuchen spicemix, or shop bought)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (affiliate link)
• 15 g/ 0.5 oz cocoa powder
• 500 g/ 17.6 oz flour
• 1 egg (medium size)

Lebkuchenherz Recipe steps

1. Place the butter, honey and sugar in a small pot and place it on the stove. Melt the ingridients on a low heat.
2. Remove the pot off the heat and leave to rest until it reaches room temperature.
3. Now add in the gingerbread spice, baking powder (affiliate link), cocoa powder and egg to the honey mixture . Using a hand or stand mixer, mix the ingridients until combined. Now slowly add in the the flour and knead to a thick dough.
4. Cover the dough, or place in an airtight container and leave to rest for at least 5 hours at room temperature.
5. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees.
6. Using a rolling pin (affiliate link), roll the dough to a approximate thickness of 5 mm. As the dough it very sticky, I would recommend using a non-stick baking mat, or roll out the directly on the baking parchment. You might also find that the dough is sticking to your rolling pin (affiliate link). To prevent this from happening I used cling film on top of the dough. If you find the dough is too dry and starts cracking you can carefully brush a little milk on top.

7. Using your cookie cutter or using a self-cut template, cut out the hearts and place them on a tray lined with parchment.
8. Using a small round object- I used a lid of a pen 🙂 cut out the two holes for string to be threaded through later.
9. Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes. Check that they do not turn too dark.
10. Leave to cool completley before decorating.

How to decorate the Gingerbread Hearts.

The icing that is used for Lebkuchenherzen is called Eiweißglasur in German. This translates as "egg white glaze". It is the same as royal icing, which is used to decorate sugar cookies in the UK and US.

The success of the icing very much depends on achieving the perfect consistency. It should not be too dense to pipe, but it needs to be firm enough to hold its shape. It is best to start piping on some baking parchment to test the consistency.

Gingerbread Icing Ingridients:

• 500 g /17.6 oz icing sugar/confectioners sugar
• 2 egg whites (from medium eggs)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 table spoons lemon juice
• Food colouring of your choice.

Gingerbread Icing Recipe

1. Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. (If there are any traces of oil in the bowl, the eggs might not stiffen. If in doubt, wipe the bowl with some vinegar).
2. Add a pinch of salt and whisk the eggs until you can see soft peaks forming.
3. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice in little potions.
4. The icing should stick to the whisk but still be soft enough to be piped.
5. Divide the icing into little potions. Add the food colouring as desired. Remember that if the food colouring is liquid, you might need to add a little more icing sugar/confectioners sugar again to gain the right consistency.

Tips to decorating the lebkuchen hearts

1. Start with the writing then continue to the outside.
2. If you are unsure of the spacing, edge the letters with a skewer lightly on the cake and then trace with the icing.
3. If th icing looses shape after you piped it, it is too liquid and you need to add more sugar.
4. The icing is too hard and dry - add a little lemon juice to make it more liquid.
5. Prepare ornamental decorations - You can make little flowers, hearts or stars by piping them on some baking parchment. Once they are dry you can stick them on with a little icing. This is an easier way than doing it directly on the cakes.

Gingerbread Heart Inscriptions Ideas

Oktoberfest sayings

• Oktoberfest
• Wiesn Gaudi (means Octoberfest Fun)
• O'zapft is! ("O' Zapft is" is Bavarian dialect for "Es ist angezapft" - literal meaning "it has been tapped," really meaning "party time!")
• Fesches Dirndl (Good looking girl in Dirndl)
• Wiesn Prinzessin (Oktoberfest princess)
• Gruß vom Oktoberfest (Greetings from Oktoberfest)
• Lausbubla (Bavarian word for Rascal)

Christmas Market sayings

• Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)
• Frohes Fest (Happy Holidays)
• Ich schenk Dir mein Herz (I give/gift you my heart)

Romantic Inscriptions

• Ich Liebe Dich (I Love you)
• Traummann (Dream Man)
• Traumfrau (Dream Woman)
• Herzl (diminuative of heart)
• Fesches Madl (good looking girl)
• Honigmaus (Honey mouse - a nick name)
• Für die Liebe meines Lebens (for the love of my life)
• Ich Vermisse Dich (I miss you)
• Schatzi (my treasure (nickname))

Funny Inscriptions

• Ich bin single (I am single)
• Ich hasse Bier (I hate beer)
• Küss mich! (Kiss me)
• Ich will heim (I want to go home)
• Ich bin Superman (I am superman)
• Zu mir oder zu dir (Shall we go to yours or mine?)

Gingerbread Hearts as gifts

These gingerbread hearts are seldom bought for oneself but are mostly given as a gift.

They are perfect for any occasion. As a souvenir, weddings, birthdays, or simply to cheer someone up.

Wrap the lebkuchen heart in some clingfilm. Make two holes for where the string goes through. Now thread through the string and is ready to give away.

More German Heart Shaped Gift Ideas

Storage Instructions

These gingerbread hearts are sometimes too pretty to eat. But how long do these pretty heart-shaped cakes last? Do not worry. A Lebkuchenherz can last for up to two years! If it gets too hard to eat, simply place it in the fridge for a while, and it will soften. Another tip is to place it in an airtight container with some apples, which will soften the cake again.

Did you try this recipe?

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Interested in German Christmas?

• Read my Guide on German Christmas Food.
• Discover all about German Christmas Market Food
• And see all of our Christmas Recipes

More German Christmas Baking Recipes

• Marzipan Cookies
• German Butter Cookies
• Vanillakipferl
• Baiser Cookies (Germen Merengue Cookies)
• Kokusmakronen (German Coconut Macaroons)
• Spitzbuben (German Jam Cookies)
• Stollen (German Christmas Cake)

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