Lebkuchen

• Lebkuchen, also called Pfefferkuchen, are round or rectangular gingerbread cookies. Unlike the thin, crispy, American-style gingerbread cookies, lebkuchen are thicker and softer. They often contain chopped nuts, or candied citrus peels. Many German regions have their own variations of lebkuchen; the most famous is the Nürnberger lebkuchen, which is baked on top a thin wafer called an oblaten.

Springerle

• A traditional Christmas cookie, springerle are decorated with special molds that are pressed into the dough before baking. The molds, which are either flat or set into rolling pins, are carved with designs such as snowflakes, rose garlands, and even intricate religious scenes. After the springerle are molded, the dough is allowed to harden for a few hours, so that the design isn't lost during baking.

Butterplatzchen

• As the name might suggest, butterplatzchen are cookies with a high proportion of butter in the dough. The dough is rolled out thinly, shaped using cookie cutters, and then decorated with icing or chocolate. When two butterplatzchen are stacked together with jam between them, they become another type of cookie, a Doppeldecker.

Schweineohrchen

• Also known as Palmers, schweineohrchen---which translates as pigs' ears---are crispy, delicate cookies made of puff pastry that has been rolled and then sliced. After baking, the cookies are sometimes dusted with confectioners' sugar or dipped in chocolate.

Spritzgeback

• Spritzgeback, also called spritz, are crisp, buttery cookies made with a cookie press, often in the shapes of stars or flowers. For Christmas, they're topped with maraschino cherry halves, sprinkles, or a flavored icing such as vanilla or rum.

Spekulatius

• Like the springerle, the spekulatius is made using a cookie mold that presses a design into each cookie, often a windmill or a barnyard animal. Crispy and thin, spekulatius are often spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, or coated with sliced almonds.

Zimsterne

• Zimsterne is German for cinnamon stars, and that's exactly what these are: flat, star-shaped cookies flavored with cinnamon. Zimsterne are sometimes decorated with vanilla icing or sprinkles.