My great grandmother brought her springerle rolling pin when she immigrated from Germany in the late 1800's. Springerles are a traditional German cookie made with anise. My grandmother made them growing up and I hated them. They tasted like black licorice and could leave dents in the wall if you threw them. When I was older and somewhat more mature, I found a new recipe from a café called the Springerle House in Lancaster, PA where I was attending college. I gave the cookies another try and found that I liked them much better when they were soft. Leaving the simple design of the rolling pin aside, I purchased hand-carved molds from Switzerland and my mother and I started baking springerles all the time. We even hosted camps to show friends and family how to make these interesting cookies (read: acquired taste). Now, I continue the tradition with much easier to find resin molds from the Springerle Baker in South Carolina. I also take the opportunity to put a twist on this old cookie by creating new flavors of cookies like strawberry and rum spice.

– Erica Koppenhoefer

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more