In the enchanting realm of holiday baking, there exists a captivating Swedish creation that holds a special place in the hearts of many: Pepparkakor, also known as Swedish Christmas Ginger Snaps. These delectable treats, characterized by their delightful crispness and warm, gingery flavor, are an integral part of the Swedish holiday tradition, conjuring up images of cozy winter gatherings and the festive spirit of Christmas. As you embark on a culinary journey to discover the secrets behind this beloved delicacy, let's delve into the rich history and cultural significance of Pepparkakor, offering you a glimpse into the world of Swedish Christmas baking.
Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!
SWEDISH GINGER SNAPS (PEPPARKAKOR)
A truly special Swedish ginger snap with a crispy outer edge and a pleasantly chewy center. The perfect fika treat!
Provided by Kristi
Categories Fika
Time 25m
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Whisk pastry flour (or all-purpose flour and cornstarch), baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Combine butter, sugar and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. This will take longer if you are mixing by hand. Reduce speed to low and add the egg. Mix until fully combined.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix on low speed until just combined. Using a spatula, transfer dough to a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to one day or, alternatively, place dough in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes. The dough will be easier to work with if it is well-chilled.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 1/2 cup of sugar in a small bowl and find a drinking glass with a flat bottom.
- Remove a portion of the dough from the refrigerator. Tearing off one small piece at a time, roll dough between your palms into a small ball about 1/2 -3/4 inch in diameter. Dough will be sticky. Place dough ball in the bowl of sugar and roll it around until it is completely coated. Place ball on prepared baking sheet.
- Continue with remaining dough until baking sheet is filled, leaving at least 1 inch of space between each dough ball on the baking sheet. Dip the bottom of the drinking glass into the bowl of sugar and press down on each ball flattening it into a disc approximately 1/4 inch thick. Be sure to dip the glass in the sugar before flattening each cookie.
- Place baking sheet in the oven and bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are just set. Do not over bake if you want the center of the cooke to remain slightly chewy. Let cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough, rechilling the dough as necessary if it becomes difficult to work with.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 43 kcal, Sugar 4 g, Sodium 52 mg, Fat 2 g, SaturatedFat 1 g, Carbohydrate 6 g, Fiber 1 g, Protein 1 g, Cholesterol 7 mg, ServingSize 1 serving
PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES)
Categories Cookies Ginger Dessert Bake Christmas Winter Christmas Eve Party Kidney Friendly Vegetarian Pescatarian Peanut Free Tree Nut Free Soy Free Kosher
Yield Makes about 9 dozen cookies
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small saucepan over moderate heat, warm the corn syrup and orange zest. Add the butter and sugar and continue warming, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Add the egg and whisk to combine. Pour over the flour mixture and stir to combine. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap, and chill overnight.
- Arrange racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with nonstick baking mats, such as Silpats, or parchment paper.
- Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out a portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4 inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into desired shapes, such as circles, stars, hearts, bells, gingerbread men, and Christmas trees. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets and sprinkle with the pearl sugar. Bake, switching the cookies between the upper and lower racks and rotating the baking sheets about halfway through baking, until the edges are just beginning to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Watch the cookies carefully to make sure they don't get too brown.
- Let the cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to let cool completely. Continue rolling and cutting out the rest of the cookie dough and baking the cookies on cooled baking sheets. DO AHEAD: Pepparkakor can be baked ahead and kept, stored between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks, or frozen up to 1 month.
TRADITIONAL SWEDISH PEPPARKAKOR
These thin, crispy spice cookies are a Christmas tradition in Sweden. They're usually cut into heart, flower or star shapes. Dusting your cookie cutters with flour will make it easier to cut the dough.
Provided by Eal
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Scandinavian
Time 1h35m
Yield 100
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Sift the flour together with the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom in a mixing bowl.
- Beat the butter together with the white and brown sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and corn syrup until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until evenly blended. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and wrap tightly each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
- Using 1 portion at a time, work on a floured surface and roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutter, and place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven until set, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered tins.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 47.4 calories, Carbohydrate 7 g, Cholesterol 6.7 mg, Fat 1.9 g, Fiber 0.2 g, Protein 0.9 g, SaturatedFat 1.2 g, Sodium 39.9 mg, Sugar 3.2 g
PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES)
Provided by The Redhead Baker
Time 55m
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine the butter, both sugars, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, orange extract, salt, cloves, and pepper. As the butter melts, whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer. Remove from heat. Cool until just warm to the touch, about 30 minutes.
- Whisk the egg into the cooled mixture until smooth. Pour over the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until no dry flour remains. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Heat the oven to 350 F with racks in the upper- and lower-middle positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Working with a tablespoonful of dough at a time, use dampened hands to roll into balls. Arrange 12 dough balls on each baking sheet, spacing evenly.
- Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the balls on each sheet and use the bottom of a dry measuring cup to flatten each to about ¼ inch thick. Remove the plastic and bake until richly browned, 14 to 16 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Cool on the sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
PERFECT PEPPARKAKOR
This is a recipe for traditional Swedish ginger snaps, originally from a family friend of my grandmother. Our family makes these cookies every year for our Christmas Eve celebration. They are traditionally cut into heart shapes, but we experiment with flowers, angels, bells, stars, etc. Note: requires overnight refrigeration.
Provided by Dalloway
Categories Dessert
Time 38m
Yield 30-40 cookies, 15-20 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Melt margarine or butter in a saucepan over low heat. Slowly stir in the sugar, syrup and spices. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, mix together baking soda and water. Add egg and beat well.
- Stir in flour and margarine mixture. Mix well.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Roll out on a well-floured surface until very thin. Cut into desired shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 6 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 305.7, Fat 13, SaturatedFat 7.9, Cholesterol 46.6, Sodium 267.9, Carbohydrate 44.9, Fiber 1.1, Sugar 16.5, Protein 3.6
SWEDISH CHRISTMAS GINGER SNAPS (PEPPARKAKOR)
Steps:
- Put butter into a large mixing bowl. Combine water, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a saucepan. Heat to boiling, boil 1 minute, stirring. Pour hot spice mixture over butter; stir to melt butter. Sift flour, measure 2 cups, and sift again with baking soda. Add to spice mixture; stir to blend thoroughly. Cover dough tightly or wrap in waxed paper or aluminum foil. Chill in refrigerator 12 hours or overnight. Cut off small, workable portions of dough. Roll each out very thin (about 1/8" thick) on a lightly floured board. Cut into shapes with fancy cooky cutters. With flexible spatula, lift cookies onto greased baking sheet. Bake in a moderately hot oven (375 degrees farenheit) about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Make icing: Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Beat in vanilla and enough powdered sugar so that mixture holds soft peaks when beater is lifted. Spoon icing into force bag. Decorate cooled cookies. Variation: Do not roll out chilled dough. Instead, pinch off small portions and roll, between palms, into balls about 3/4" in diameter. Drop balls into granulated sugar to coat all sides. Bake as for cut-out cookies.
PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGERBREAD) RECIPE - (4.5/5)
Provided by á-178044
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Cream the butter and sugar together then bit by bit add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream until the dough has formed. It's quite a dense and sticky dough so took a while for it to all come together. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour but up to a day. Preheat your oven to 170°C/350°F (fan oven). Roll the dough until about a millimeter thin - I found that as the dough is so sticky (and didn't want to use any extra flour), rolling it between sheets of cling film worked really well! Cut out pieces of dough using your favorite cutters. Bake for between 6 to 8 minutes until the edges start to brown and cool on a baking rack. Leave plain or decorate using your favorite icing recipe.
PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES)
Make and share this Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies) recipe from Food.com.
Provided by lazyme
Categories Dessert
Time 25m
Yield 10 dozen
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Heat molasses in small saucepan to boiling point.
- Boil 1 minute.
- Add sugar and butter and stir until butter is melted.
- Cool.
- Beat in egg.
- Sift together flour, salt, soda and spices.
- Add to first mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Cover bowl tightly and chill overnight.
- Roll out a portion of the dough at a time on lightly floured pastry cloth.
- Roll out thin.
- Cut into desired shapes.
- Bake in a moderate oven (350F) 6 to 8 minutes.
- The dough may be shaped into a roll and wrapped in waxed paper.
- Chill thoroughly overnight or longer.
- Slice thin and bake in moderate oven (350F).
- These should be stored in an air-tight container - allow flavor to "ripen".
Nutrition Facts : Calories 290.6, Fat 10, SaturatedFat 6, Cholesterol 45.5, Sodium 168.9, Carbohydrate 46.6, Fiber 0.9, Sugar 19.5, Protein 4
SWEDISH PEPPARKAKOR CAKE
This traditional Swedish spice cake is perfect to have on hand for the Christmas holiday season. This is an incredibly easy recipe and perfect for your children to help make and bake.
Provided by claudia in ny
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Scandinavian
Time 55m
Yield 16
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a bread pan.
- Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and cloves in a large bowl.
- Beat egg and milk together in a separate bowl; add to flour mixture and stir to moisten dry ingredients evenly. Pour mixture into a bread pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 166.4 calories, Carbohydrate 37.9 g, Cholesterol 12.8 mg, Fat 0.8 g, Fiber 0.5 g, Protein 2.5 g, SaturatedFat 0.3 g, Sodium 65.7 mg, Sugar 25.8 g
Tips:
- Use high-quality ingredients for the best flavor.
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking to prevent spreading.
- Roll the dough out evenly to ensure consistent baking.
- Use cookie cutters to create fun and festive shapes.
- Bake the cookies until they are just set, but not overbaked to maintain their soft texture.
- Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Conclusion:
Swedish Christmas Ginger Snaps (Pepparkakor) are a delicious and festive treat that is perfect for the holiday season. With their warm and spicy flavor, these cookies are sure to be a hit with family and friends. The tips provided in this article will help you create perfect Pepparkakor that will be enjoyed by all.
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