Pepparkakor (Swedish ginger cookies)

Name: Pepparkakor (Swedish ginger cookies)
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Ingredients: 200g Unsalted Butter; 225g Granulated Sugar; 100ml Golden Syrup, light (ljus sirap); 50ml Water; 1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon; 1 tbsp Ground Ginger; 1 tsp Ground Cloves; 1 tsp Ground Cardamom; 1 tsp Bitter Orange Peel Powder (Pommerans), finely ground; 1/2 tsp Fine Salt; 2 tsp Baking Soda; 420g All-purpose Flour

Pepparkakor are thin, crisp Swedish ginger cookies redolent of warm spices and a bright hint of bitter orange. They bake up paper-thin and snappy — perfect for rolling out, cutting into festive shapes, and serving with coffee or mulled drinks. This classic dough is fragrant, lightly sweet, and keeps well, developing its flavor with a day in the jar.

Pepparkakor are thin, crisp Swedish ginger cookies redolent of warm spices and a bright hint of bitter orange. They bake up paper-... Show more

Traditional Scandinavian Recipe

Health Grade

E+ · Indulgent

Rating

4.0

Time

2 hrs

Price

0,32 €

Calories

431 kcal

vegetarian

easy

kid friendly

comfort food

Method

Make the syrup

Set a saucepan over low heat and combine Unsalted Butter, Granulated Sugar, Golden Syrup, Water, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Ground Cloves, Ground Cardamom, Bitter Orange Peel Powder (Pommerans), and Fine Salt. Stir gently until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, then take the pan off the heat and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so it cools slightly.

Mix the dough

In a large bowl, whisk together Baking Soda and All-purpose Flour. Pour in the warm spice syrup and stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth, fairly stiff dough forms and no dry flour remains. When it gets too thick to stir, use your hands briefly to bring it together, but don’t overwork it.

Chill the dough

Press the dough into a flat disk or two smaller disks, cover them well, and chill for 45 minutes. Then lightly butter your baking sheets and preheat the oven to 200° C while the dough chills for 15 minutes more, until it’s firm enough to roll very thin.

Roll and cut

Working with one piece of dough at a time and keeping the rest cold, roll it on a lightly floured surface to about 2 mm thick. Cut out cookies and transfer them to the prepared sheets, leaving a little space between each one. If the dough softens or sticks, dust the surface with a little more flour and chill it briefly before rolling again.

Bake the cookies

Bake the cookies on the middle rack for 6–8 minutes, until the edges are just starting to darken and the centers look set. Start checking at 6 minutes; pepparkakor can go from perfect to too dark very quickly.

Cool completely

Let the cookies rest on the tray for 2 minutes, then move them to a wire rack and cool completely. They’ll crisp up as they cool, so don’t stack them while they’re still warm.