These svenska pepparkakor are not only super Swedish, there're also a typical treat during Christmas time!
The Swedes are into sweet treats. There’s a bakery on every corner, displaying all kinds of pastries and every supermarket has large candy walls. Kids don’t eat that much candy during the week, but on Friday or Saturday they’re often aloud to stash large amounts of candy from the candy wall (godis) in their own paper bag. It’s a good thing the Swedes are also super active, sporty and outdoorsy, right? ;-)
With Christmas just around the corner, many Swedes start baking and there are countless typical Christmas treats to choose from.
You’ll find these svenska pepparkakor (ginger snaps) in the supermarket all-year round, but during this wonderful time of the year your will find them literally anywhere. Traditionally, the cookies are eaten together with glögg, which is a wine, spiced up with wintery flavors like cloves, warmed-up and with some added almonds and raisins. Needless to say that glögg is a super sweet drink as well.
A good pepparkaka is thin and crunchy. The warm flavors will bring you right into that cosy winter mood!
Just of the few of the tasty pepparkakor I tasted in the many bakeries around Stockholm...
IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT RECIPE
If you’ve tried out some of my recipes before, you might know I always try to give a leaner or healthier twist to a recipe. Let me warn you beforehand, because this time I didn’t. I figured these traditional cookies should be honored just the way they are ;-)
That being said, finding the right recipe for these cookies is not an easy search. Many chefs proclaim to have created the recipe for ‘the perfect pepparkaka’, but there’s no agreement to that ‘one and only’ recipe. Therefore, I gave some recipes a try, added more of this and less of that and I’m very proud to present my recipe:
…DRUM ROLL….
The Givers Pepparkakor!
WHAT TO SHOP FOR?
(for appr. 4 baking sheets / 28 - 50 cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutters)
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp clove powder
2 tbsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp ginger bread spices
1 tbsp ginger powder
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
100g brown sugar
125g butter
500ml water
200ml dark syrup. You can also use maple syrup or honey, but this will make the cookies taste slightly sweeter than the traditional pepparkakor.
500g plain flour (for a gluten free version, you can use gluten free flour instead)
HOW TO DO THIS?
The batter
The makin' and bakin'
NOTE!
You want to bake the cookies even thinner than I did, to make that real pepparkaka. Make sure not to bake them too long, because the thinner they get, the faster they'll burn.
TIPS!
You can keep your batter in the fridge for up to two days, so it’s very handy to prepare your batter and bake some fresh cookies whenever you feel like it. It’s also possible to keep the batter in the freezer for up to one month. If you do so, get it out of the freeze the night before you're going to bake your cookies.
The cookies can be stored in a tin, with a tight cover to keep them tasty and crispy for quite a long time. That way you don’t have to eat your cookies all at once and you’ll enjoy them longer.
Pepparkakorna are a perfect addition to your Christmas deserts as well :-) Crumble them over your yoghurt or use them to garnish your creations!
Have a evening everybody and let me know what you thought of this recipe!
Love, Mieke
Nice to meet you, my name is Mieke Geevers; Givers.
It’s my dream to make it easy for women worldwide to feel good about themselves. Fast reads and videos about sports, food, beauty and fashion. Feel free to browse through my website, comment, like or share, you're welcome!
