German Christmas Lebkuchen

Ingredients

• 25 Back Oblaten (German baking wafers), such as Küchle®
• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts
• 7 tablespoons candied lemon and/or candied orange peels, store-bought or homemade, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• ground cloves, to taste
• 2 cups dark chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Arrange the baking wafers on the baking sheet, leaving about 1-inch of space between them.

4. In a bowl, add the almond flour, the white sugar, the eggs, the ground hazelnuts, the candied lemon and/or candied orange peels, the ground cinnamon, the vanilla sugar, and the ground cloves and mix until a firm dough forms.

5. Shape the dough mixture into balls.

6. Arrange the balls on the prepared wafers, pressing the dough gently to flatten them into 1/2-inch-high rounds.

7. Bake in the preheated oven until light brown in color, about 15-20 minutes.

8. Allow the lebkuchen to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

9. In a double boiler over simmering water, add the chocolate and gently melt it, while stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until it is completely melted, about 5 minutes.

10. Cover the top of each lebkuchen with the melted chocolate.

11. Allow the chocolate to set.

12. Serve.