Grandmas Pepparkakor Swedish Spice Cookies Recipes

PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES)

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.

SWEDISH PEPPARKAKOR COOKIES

Steps:

• Add the sugar, honey, and milk to a small saucepan. When measuring a "scant" cup of the honey and the milk, you want to it to be just under 1/2 cup, but not closer to 1/3 cup. If you can measure in milliliters, its exactly 100 milliliters.
• Bring to a boil then turn off the heat and let cool slightly.
• Add the butter and the spices to a mixing bowl, and pour the warm syrup mixture over them. Mix until the butter is melted and everything is combined.
• Sift the baking soda, salt, and flour together, and then add to the butter and the syrup mixture. Mix until everything is evenly incorporated.
• Shape the dough into a flat disk, and chill in the fridge overnight or up to 48 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out dough to about 3/8" thick and cut out using cookie cutters.
• Arrange cookies on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until slightly puffed and golden.
• Allow to cool completely before icing.
• Mix the powdered sugar with just enough water to make a smooth but thick glaze. Divide the icing into smaller batches if you want to make different colors. You can also flavor the icing with a little vanilla extract or almond extract if you'd like. For pipping lines and small designs, keep your icing pretty thick so that it won't spread, there should be a little resistance when mixing it with a whisk. For covering the entire cookie like the green and blue reindeer, add a bit more water to the icing so that it goes on smoothly and is easier to cover the whole cookie before it starts to dry and crack. Try some icing on a test cookie if you're not sure about the texture!
• For the light blue color I used, add 2-3 drops of food coloring to 1 cup or so of glaze.
• For the darker green/blue color, add a couple drops of green and blue, and a tiny touch of red to tone the color down a bit.
• Place the icing in ziplock bags or a piping bag fitted with a very small tip. Cut a tiny corner off of the ziplock bags if using. Decorate, and allow to harden completely before moving or stacking.

GRANDMA'S PEPPARKAKOR ~ SWEDISH SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. GRANDMA'S DIRECTIONS Sift flour with soda and spices. Cream butter and sugar, add syrup and egg. Add dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. (form dough into a ball) Roll out thin, about 1/16 of an inch, on floured board, and cut into shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes.
• 2. THIS IS WHAT WORKS FOR ME After the dough is formed into a ball, divide into 4 smaller balls, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes or so. I also roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Cut into shapes, pop the sheet into the freezer for a couple of minutes. It makes it easy to remove the cut outs from the parchment.
• 3. **** Not stated in Grandma's directions, YOU KEEP ROLLING ALL YOUR TRIMMINGS, UNTIL ALL THE DOUGH IS GONE! It's a labor of love!

PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES)

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 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.

SWEDISH PEPPARKAKOR

Steps:

• Mix all-purpose flour, pastry flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and black pepper together in a bowl and set aside.
• Combine molasses, sugar, and maple syrup in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly to dissolve and remove from heat when a small foam rises to the surface, about 3 minutes. Continue stirring and allow to cool slightly; add butter and let cool to room temperature. Add egg.
• Pour molasses mixture into flour mixture in the bowl and mix until crumbles hold together when pressed. Knead for 2 minutes, focusing on any dry bits. Form into a flat log and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cut dough log into small sections and allow to warm up slightly before rolling out between 2 layers of parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut shapes with a floured cookie cutter or pastry wheel. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes; remove cookies before they brown. Cool on a rack.