A German Tradition

In our house during the holidays we have a tradition. My mother's mother's side of the family came over from Austria in 1906 and with them they brought a Christmas tradition that we've kept up to this day. Pfeffernuesse. In our home it's simply called the German Cookie. Besides sugar cookies it is the most liked and asked for treat. Well, besides home made bread and cinnamon rolls.

Pfeffernuesse Recipe:
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter
2 beaten eggs
4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

The first step is to cook and stir the molasses and butter on the stove until the butter melts. Be careful to keep an eye on the pot as the molasses can burn. Once the butter is melted, pull the pot off the stove and let it sit until it cools to room temperature. The trick to this recipe is to wait. Where I am at it usually takes 30 to 40 minutes.
From there stir in the beaten eggs. Then you add the flour, sugar and spices. Mix it well, as well as you can get it. Then set the mixture in the refrigerator and let it get cold. But don't let is sit too long. It should clump together but not be sticky. Once it is ready shape the dough into one inch balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.
Once they are cool roll them in powdered sugar. And you have "German Cookies".

What food tradition do you have within your family?