Sara's Mother's Lebkuchen

I grew up eating these Lebkuchen every Christmas, baked fresh by my best friend Sara's mother. This was one of the first recipes I converted to natural sweeteners, published in my newsletter in 1985. And it's made with whole wheat flour too.

2/3 cup honey
1 cup date sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1/3 cup water
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup walnuts
1/3 cup candied orange peel

Boil honey, date sugar, and butter together for 5 minutes, then cool. Beat egg and water together. Sift flour, soda, and spices. Chop walnuts and candied orange peel. Combine honey, egg, and flour mixtures together by adding them together alternatively, then add nuts and orange peel. You will probably need to use your hands neat the end as the dough will be very stiff. (Note: this dough makes a relatively dry, crispy-on-the-outside cookies. For a chewier cookies, add water until the dough is soft and pliable). Chill overnight or longer to mellow flavors. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. In Germany, Lebkuchen is cut into "Herzen" (hearts) and "Sternen" (stars) at holiday time. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until done.