Name: Christmas Gingerbread Men, or “Mummeli” (Grischdaags Mennli, Odder Mummeli)
Yield: 4 mummeli, 9 to 10 inches (22.5 to 25 cm) tall
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: ½ ounce (14 g) active dry yeast; 2 cups (500 ml) lukewarm milk; 5½ cups (770 g) organic spelt flour; 5 cups (700 g) organic barley flour; ½ cup (125 g) unsalted butter; 4 large eggs; 1 tablespoon grated nutmeg; ¾ cup (180 ml) honey; 2 tablespoons (30 ml) saffron water (see note); 1 teaspoon sea salt; 2 tablespoons (30 ml) unsulfured molasses

Preparation info

4
mummeli, 9 to 10 inches 22.5 to 25 cm ) tall

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Pennsylvania Dutch Country Cooking

By William Woys Weaver

Published 1993

About

This is one of the earliest types of gingerbread that I have come across in Pennsylvania Dutch cookery. The basic recipe was brought to America in the eighteenth century by immigrants from Hessia. Mummeli are still baked in the New Berlin area of Union County and other parts of central Pennsylvania.

Traditionally, Mummeli are made with spelt and barley flours, which create a distinct texture and flavor; the mix was once believed to impart certain magical properties to