Gingerbread Dough Pepparkakor Recipes

TRADITIONAL SWEDISH PEPPARKAKOR

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.

CHRISTINA'S GINGERBREAD DOUGH

Steps:

• Combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
• In a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the shortening, powdered sugar, dark brown sugar, and molasses. Mix on low speed, just until smooth, trying not to incorporate too much air.
• Add the flour mixture all at once, and mix on low to medium-low speed. As this begins to mix, add the 1/4 cup of cooled coffee. Watch closely as the dough begins to come together. If it looks and feels dry and crumbly, begin to add the remaining coffee, 1 tablespoon at a time as needed. The dough should be firm, but evenly moist.
• Alternatively, this dough can be mixed by hand. If you choose to do this, add the flour mixture in 3 or 4 batches, instead of all at once, to the sugar and shortening mixture. Add the coffee, a little at a time, along with the flour.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into 2 flattened rectangles. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then place into an air-tight container or zip-top plastic bag. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours before rolling and cutting. The dough keeps for 4 days, refrigerated.
• If dough has been chilled for longer than 1 to 2 hours, allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment or foil, or very lightly grease.
• Working with 1 piece of the chilled dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 3/8-inch thick (small, decorative pieces may be rolled thinner; pieces that will need to provide support may be rolled thicker). Transfer to prepared baking sheets, then cut to desired shapes using templates that have been lightly floured. Cut out desired shapes (use templates and lightly flour them before placing on the dough and cutting). If cutting windows, doors, etc., start by cutting them first, then cut the overall shape. This prevents distortion of the pieces. Keep similar sized pieces on each sheet for even baking. If you have the refrigerator space, a brief chilling at this point (15 minutes) will help the dough hold its shape in the oven, but this step is optional.
• Lightly brush or spray the surface with water and bake 15 minutes for medium to large pieces (7 to 10 minutes for smaller pieces). Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. With a sharp knife, carefully re-cut the hot gingerbread (using your templates) if any spreading occurred. Remove all scraps from the tray.
• Return the baking sheet to the oven. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes more, even longer for very large or thick pieces, until dark brown, but not burned. You must bake gingerbread for houses much longer than you would bake cookies. It must be very dry throughout, and quite dark in color. The low oven temperature helps to keep the browning even, as opposed to dark around the edges. As oven temperatures will vary, check the pieces during the second baking frequently. If they are browning too quickly, lower the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Loosen the pieces from the tray with a thin spatula and continue to cool on the tray until firm. Remove the pieces from the tray and allow them to cool on a wire rack for several hours before assembling your house.

GINGERBREAD DOUGH RECIPE

Steps:

• Cut nonstick baking parchment to fit your baking sheet. Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the corn syrup, brown sugar, and margarine in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until margarine is melted. Pour the syrup mixture over the flour mixture.
• Stir well, using your hands to mix as the dough becomes stiff. If you are using a heavy-duty Kitchen Aid mixer, the mixer can handle this dough; lightweight mixers cannot. Chill the dough 1 hour or until it is about room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out the dough on nonstick baking parchment to a thickness of 1/8-inch. Using the patterns of your choice, cut out the necessary pieces. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Smaller pieces should be baked separately from larger ones, as baking times will vary depending on size. Check for air bubbles during baking and poke them with a knife or skewer. When baking is done, slide the parchment with the hot gingerbread onto a cooling rack. Make sure all the pieces lie flat.
• For the icing: Sift the confectioners' sugar. Place the egg whites in a mixer bowl. Add sugar and cream of tartar to egg whites while stirring. When all the sugar is incorporated, turn mixer to high and beat mixture until thick and very white. The icing should hold a stiff peak. The process takes about 5 to 7 minutes, longer if using a hand mid mixer. Cover the icing tightly with plastic wrap, as it dries very quickly. Use paste food colors to tint the icing. A tiny dot on a toothpick to a quarter cup of icing will make a nice pastel color, but be sure to add it a little at a time. With practice you will learn how much to use to get the color intensity you want.

GINGERBREAD DOUGH

Steps:

• Whisk all the dry ingredients together thoroughly and set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of a mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the eggs, molasses, and water and beat until well combined.
• Beat half of the flour mixture into the mixer until blended and smooth. Add the remaining flour mixture and then knead the dough until firm and manageable, but not dry. Add more flour if the dough is wet.
• Place the dough in a sealable container or zip-top bag in a cool place for up to 2 hours. If you make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it, bring to room temperature before working the dough.
• When ready to roll out the dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your cookie sheets with nonstick spray.
• Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes, working in small batches and keeping the remaining dough in an airtight container so that it does not dry out. Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. The gingerbread will be light brown when it is done. Let cool before icing.
• Combine egg white and powdered sugar in a microwaveable bowl and microwave until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F. The best way to do this is to microwave the mixture on high power, stopping every 20 seconds to take the temperature; it will take about 2 minutes and 40 seconds, but cook time will vary based on microwaves. Make sure to use clean utensils each time you check the icing. The other option is to microwave the mixture for 45 seconds on high, but the consistency will not be as good.
• Beat on high speed until the icing cools and holds a stiff peak, about 2 minutes. If the icing needs to be thicker, add up to 2/3 cup more sugar; you will probably need to add about 1/3 cup more sugar. Food coloring can be added, if desired. Work with the icing in small amounts, keeping the remaining icing in an airtight container, as it will dry quickly.
• Beat all ingredients together in the bowl of a mixer until stiff peaks form. Food coloring can be added, if desired. Work with the icing in small amounts, keeping the remaining icing in an airtight container, as it will dry quickly. The icing can be re-beaten if necessary.

TRADITIONAL PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH SPICE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Sift together dry ingredients; set aside.
• Cream sugar and butter.
• Add egg and molasses.
• Blend in dry ingredients thoroughly. Let dough stand overnight for easy rolling.
• On a well-floured board, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Cut into shapes (we usually make gingerbread people) and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
• NOTE: Prep time does not include time to let dough rest overnight.

PEPPARKAKA (NORDIC GINGERBREAD) DOUGH

Steps:

• 1. Bring the butter, molasses, sugar and the dried and powdered spices into a boil in a kettle. 2. Keep boiling the mix on a low heat for a few minutes, allowing it to caramelize slightly but not too long. If it keeps boiling too long then the result may be a dough that's difficult to handle with pieces of hard candy. 3. Cool the mixture down in a cold water bath (for example). Remember to mix it from the edges to the center so the temperature goes down evenly. 4. When the mix is still warm but slightly cooled down (around 60-70°C), add the egg and mix well.
• 1. Mix the flour and baking soda together. 2. Gradually add the flour mix into the caramel, knead them in if necessary. 3. Once the dough has cooled to a room temperature then put it into the fridge and let it settle there overnight. The dough will get a somewhat waxy texture. It can also be frozen.
• Baking the dough: 1. Heat the oven to 200°C. 2. Dust a work surface with some flour, especially the center. 3. Use a rolling pin to make a thin sheet our of the dough and use either cookie cutters or self made patterns to cut shapes out of it. 4. The dough "breathes" in the oven. The cookies first rise and then resettle as flat which will only take a few minutes. They have browned slightly once they're done. If you're making a gingerbread house for instance and want some round walls then press the still hot walls against a bottle and allow them to cool down on it.
• Decoration: Decorate the cookies as desired once they have cooled down, using royal icing, sprinkles, candies etc. However, notice that the cookies absorb the moisture easily so give them time to dry. If you pipe dots of the royal icing on the roof eaves of a gingerbread house and then quickly pull it off, you'll easily create "icicles".

PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGERBREAD) RECIPE - (4.5/5)

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.