Yes, it’s the ingredient that stumps you. Hartshorn is also known as baker’s ammonia and ammonium carbonate. It is an old time leavening that literally used to be made from ground deer horn. Hart is the German work for deer and that is how it is so named. It is not commonly found in everyday groceries. Years ago I would purchase hartshorn (and also anise oil) at a pharmacy; that was back when pharmacies did compounding and mixing right in their shops. Not something easily found these days. Thus, many people started substituting baking powder in their springerle. I still really like hartshorn as it produces a fluffier, lighter and softer texture in springerle. Some springerle lovers grew up with the baking powder version and actually prefer the harder cookie that is the result….and that’s just fine.
But if you decide to try the hartshorn, here are some things you shoud know. Firstly, it stinks!! Yes when you open the jar it smells stongly of ammonia, which makes sense since it’s ammonium carbonate. Secondly, it will readily evaporate if you do not keep it tightly sealed (also why it’s aroma is so strong). Also, you should NOT eat the raw dough as it will give you a frightful and painful case of flatulence. This is probably another reason that it is not as commonly used anymore. Afterall, it is difficult to keep the cookie monsters at bay. The ammonia dissipates when you bake the cookies. You can substitute hartshorn 1 for 1 for baking powder in other cookie and cracker recipes. Don’t use it in breads, cakes, or rolls, only in baked goods that are thinner and fully baked, so that you know that the ammonia is comletely gone. You might want to try it in a sugar cookie recipe, just for fun, to see the difference in texture.
Happy Baking! Connie
{ 1 trackback }
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
My husband grew up eating Springerle at his German Grandmothers side. He always comments that when I make them they don’t have a ‘mushroom’ top that he is used to, can you help with this problem?
Lorna, I think he is referring to a footed springerle and I’ll get back to you soon on this! Connie
i apologise for an entry based on obtaining an item…here goes. i have kept a 2004 catalog from King Arthur’s on my desk until i felt i could afford to buy my daughter a little love gift from it, the “Alpine Heart” cookie mold. it’s an 8″ mold which sold for around $65. how time flies! they no longer have it but the lady i spoke with suggested i google “the house on the hill” springerle site…so does any one know where I can get this beautiful mold of edelweiss?
Hi Olivia. Yes, House on the Hill does carry Alpine Rose and Edelweiss (M6046). You can click the link here or visit http//:houseonthehill.net. Connie
Hi,
I would love to have the recipes for springerle cookies using cinnamon and coffee, ginger, and chocolate . Is this possible?
Thank you,
Sue
Connie: Where can you purchase Hartshorn?
I once went into my local independent pharmacy and asked if they carried baker’s ammonia, the pharmacist looked at me as if I were trying to set up a meth lab. I was sure a police cruiser would be following me home! Thank goodness other people know about this ingredient…and that House on the Hill sells it!
What was your answer to Sue. I too would like springerke recipes.
I would also like to see how to make some of these cookies as I am new to the whold thing. I am interested in the walnut mold…
I have never tasted or baked springerle cookies…but have collected cookie molds and now want to try baking them. Because I have never tasted these, are they like a shortbread cookie, a gingersnap, a sugar cookie??? How would you describe it.
Thanks
My husband loves the mild gingerbread cookies from Too Pretty to Eat (it came with our springerle molds. Sad to say, we’ve moved and although our collection of House on the Hill molds survived the trip, the little recipe book is nowhere to be found. The weather is getting cooler and its time to start baking! Can you please help? Many many thanks.
my friend eats the hartshorn by itself without it being put in a mixture. whAT CAN THIs to her health?
I have a recipe for hartshorn cookies given to me by my husband’s grandmother from Austria. It uses hartshorn and anise oil. I find lots of recipes using hartshorn and aniseed but none with anise oil. Do you know of any recipes like this? This recipe makes about 300 cookies and my family makes these every year – takes us nearly all day but they are DELICIOUS!!!
Leave a Comment