Recipes
Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies)
Serves ~24
| Prep Time: 20 mins
| Cook Time: 12 mins
| Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
You may need: Gingerbread Spice
Discover The Recipe
In Sweden, Pepparkakor (Swedish ginger cookies) are a holiday tradition around Christmastime. Also known as ginger snaps, these cookies are intensely spiced and darker in color than sugar cookies. Crunchy and addictive, they're perfect for serving to party guests or just nibbling with a warm cup of coffee. Our wonderful and versatile Gingerbread spice blend is perfect for the holidays to give you some "season's greetings". Made with freshly ground ginger, and the warming spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, you can use this blend in any baked goods or sweets recipe where you want to add a classic gingerbread flavor. Try in pancakes or sprinkle a tiny pinch over eggnog, yogurt, or ice cream.
Our fresh gingerbread spice is powerful so you won't need to add much to get max flavor. Adjust our suggested amount of spice down by half if you're just looking for a hint of gingerbread. If you're not accustomed to making baked goods from scratch, this recipe is not overly complicated. However, the primary trick is to refrigerate the dough for at least 30 mins after gently kneading, to reduce the stickiness of the dough and make it easier to roll out thin.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (white granulated)
1/4 cup molasses (or honey or dark corn syrup)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg, beaten
Notes
Our recip achieves an authentic Swedish-style Pepparkakor cookie: slight crunch on the outside with a little chew on the inside. Take care to not overcook your cookies! You want a classic gingerbread brown color.
The dough from our recipe will be very sticky. The key is to just combine the flour with the wet ingredients and blend enough to combine all ingredients. Then you want to refrigerate the large dough ball before kneading too much or rolling it out. The chilled dough will actually become much easier to work with.
Use parchment paper or plastic wrap when rolling the dough, working it out from all sides to maintain an even 1/4 inch thickness.
Use a cookie cutter for best results and save the scraps in a pile to re-roll and make a couple extra cookies.
Lastly, optional ingredients add a little character and flavor but don’t sweat it if you don’t have them.
Instructions
Add flour to a large bowl. Then, mix in the baking soda and salt. Heat a medium saucepan on Med and melt the butter (but do not burn). When just melted, remove from heat and whisk in the gingerbread spice, brown sugar, white sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. Next, add in the egg and gently whisk to thoroughly mix.
Adding 1 cup of the dry mixture at a time to the liquid, stir to thoroughly mix. Repeat until the dry flour is completely dissolved into a dough. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the dough onto parchment paper, plastic wrap, or a flour dusted surface. Gently knead the dough with the spatula into a large ball. Wrap in plastic and place in fridge for at least 30 mins. [note: the dough will be very sticky. Do not over knead]
Pre heat oven on 375 deg with multiple wire racks in place. Remove dough from fridge to parchment, plastic wrap, or flour dusted surface. Roll dough flat until ~1/4 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes, re-rolling scraps.
Line multiple baking sheets with parchment paper and arrange cookies. Place sheets in oven and bake for 8-12 mins (the former for slightly chewier cookies, and the latter for a little crispier). Watch carefully as you want them to be golden but not dark brown or burnt. Decorate or serve as-is.
Alternatives & Substitutions
While we haven't tried it yet, if you need a gluten-free Pepparkakor gingerbread cookie recipe, click the link. Substitute 1 tbsp of Piquant Post Gingerbread spice for all the listed spices. There are many other gluten-free recipes available online with a quick search.
Feel like making a holiday-inspired brunch dish? Try our gingerbread pancakes recipe.
This sounds amazing: vegan, gluten-free gingerbread granola. Again, sub in an equivalent amount of our spice for all those listed.
Want all the flavor with slightly less work than making gingerbread cookies? Try making these gingerbread muffins!
For an easy treat, sprinkle a pinch to 1/4 tsp of our gingerbread spice blend on 1 cup of vanilla ice cream. You can also try the same on plain greek yogurt. Sweeten with a little molasses, honey, or maple syrup as desired.
Be sure to leave comments and feedback on your meals and experiments in the comments for others to read.
Post pictures of your masterpiece meal on social media and tag us. We repost!
Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies)
Serves
~24
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
12 mins
Total Time
1 hour 5 mins
Piquant Post spice you'll need: Gingerbread Spice
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (white granulated)
1/4 cup molasses (or honey or dark corn syrup)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg, beaten
Instructions
Add flour to a large bowl. Then, mix in the baking soda and salt. Heat a medium saucepan on Med and melt the butter (but do not burn). When just melted, remove from heat and whisk in the gingerbread spice, brown sugar, white sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. Next, add in the egg and gently whisk to thoroughly mix.
Adding 1 cup of the dry mixture at a time to the liquid, stir to thoroughly mix. Repeat until the dry flour is completely dissolved into a dough. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the dough onto parchment paper, plastic wrap, or a flour dusted surface. Gently knead the dough with the spatula into a large ball. Wrap in plastic and place in fridge for at least 30 mins. [note: the dough will be very sticky. Do not over knead]
Pre heat oven on 375 deg with multiple wire racks in place. Remove dough from fridge to parchment, plastic wrap, or flour dusted surface. Roll dough flat until ~1/4 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes, re-rolling scraps.
Line multiple baking sheets with parchment paper and arrange cookies. Place sheets in oven and bake for 8-12 mins (the former for slightly chewier cookies, and the latter for a little crispier). Watch carefully as you want them to be golden but not dark brown or burnt. Decorate or serve as-is.
Notes
Our recip achieves an authentic Swedish-style Pepparkakor cookie: slight crunch on the outside with a little chew on the inside. Take care to not overcook your cookies! You want a classic gingerbread brown color.
The dough from our recipe will be very sticky. The key is to just combine the flour with the wet ingredients and blend enough to combine all ingredients. Then you want to refrigerate the large dough ball before kneading too much or rolling it out. The chilled dough will actually become much easier to work with.
Use parchment paper or plastic wrap when rolling the dough, working it out from all sides to maintain an even 1/4 inch thickness.
Use a cookie cutter for best results and save the scraps in a pile to re-roll and make a couple extra cookies.
Lastly, optional ingredients add a little character and flavor but don’t sweat it if you don’t have them.
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