Homemade Gingerbread spice: the best taste of Christmas for less

Homemade gingerbread spice has all the spices of Christmas all ground up fresh for the best taste.

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The more I bake gingerbread, the more I’ve come across pre-mixed blends of gingerbread spice. Called Lebkuchengewürz in German, these are pre-made spice blends that contain proprietary blends of the spices we think of when we think of Christmas. Unfortunately because of importing costs, these blends are often way overpriced for the amount you get.

That’s where we can do better at home! In fact, I will always advocate for blending your own spices for the incredible flavor you get. My cinnamon based spice blends show up in a huge percentage of my recipes here!

Gingerbread spice is another one of those cinnamon based spice blends, though I’m giving it its own post because it has a very specific Christmas-only flavor to my mind. My homemade gingerbread spice contains 9 different spices in a pleasing blend that gives you a mild tasting gingerbread you’re going to love.

Let’s break down some spices!

Homemade Gingerbread Spice

What is gingerbread spice (Lebkuchengewürz)?

Gingerbread in Germany and other places in Europe is really more of a genre than one single recipe. We all know about gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies that you decorate here in the US, but in Europe, gingerbread can be cake, very soft cookies, cookies with fruit, cookies that are aged, honey gingerbread, chocolate-coated gingerbread, naturally gluten-free nut-based gingerbread, and everything in between. It’s a big deal as it has been since the Middle Ages.

What’s in common with all of these is the spices (Lebkuchengewürz). Nürnberger Lebkuchen is a protected class of confections in Germany, so only the bakeries who have been making it in Nuremburg get to know the specific blend of spices in Lebkuchen. Some of those bakeries have been around for centuries. Still, what you would expect is all here: cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg, cardamom, anise, cloves.

Why you should make gingerbread spice yourself

1. Easier to make it yourself: Unless you have a market near you with European imports, you will probably have a hard time finding Lebkuchengewürz in a store. Online prices are often too expensive.
2. You control the flavor: If you don’t like one of the spices here, you get to choose to nix it. Don’t have star anise? Use only anise seed. Etc. While you won’t get all the flavors, you’ll get what you want, and that’s how we should all cook in the first place. My students who are avowed anise haters are rejoicing at the last two sentences, even if I’m internally sad at their lack of love for anise!
3. Fresher taste: Lord only knows how long pre-packaged gingerbread spice has been hanging around once you get it. Spices like herbs and fruits and vegetables start to oxidize and lose flavor the second they’ve been cut. The closer in time your spice blend is to having been a whole spice, the fresher the taste. I see this all the time with cinnamon I grind. After even just a week, it’s lost some of its color (color is flavor). I will tell you with no bragging in my heart that my baking tastes better because I use fresh spices this way all the time. Try it yourself and I will make a believer out of you.

What kinds of recipes can you use gingerbread spice in?

Like all cinnamon-based spice blends, you can opt to swap in the gingerbread spice in place of cinnamon or another cinnamon based spice blend (apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, chai spice blend). Think of it like wearing a different color of the same socks.

There’s dozens recipes that would work with gingerbread spices (just search for cinnamon), but here are some of my favorites:

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