Name: Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies)
Yield: Makes about 9 dozen cookies
Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons ground ginger; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 2 teaspoons ground cloves; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup dark corn syrup; 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces; 1 cup sugar; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; Pearl sugar (for dusting); 2 large baking sheets; 2 nonstick baking mats, such as Silpats, or parchment paper; rolling pin; cookie cutters; wax paper

Writer Peter Jon Lindberg's Swedish grandmother Alice Lindberg made these cookies each Christmas. The recipe makes about 9 dozen cookies, making it great for holiday parties and edible gifts.

Ingredients

Makes about 9 dozen cookies

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Pearl sugar (for dusting)

Equipment:

2 large baking sheets; 2 nonstick baking mats, such as Silpats, or parchment paper; rolling pin; cookie cutters; wax paper

Preparation

Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
Step 2
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.
Step 3
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.
Step 4
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.
Step 5
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.

Leave a Review

Reviews (9)

Oh wow...so good! Not a super strong flavor but light and delicious! First time I tried any kind of pepparkakour recipe but I'm hooked.
- Michelle S11
- IL
- 12/17/2023
Great cookie! I had to make two batches this Christmas because the first batch vanished faster than expected. I didn't have pearl sugar and wasn't int he mood to make royal icing, so sprinkled them with raw sugar, turned out just fine.
- geskydiver13
- Minneapolis, MN
- 12/22/2015
No, no, no, no! What the krick? There is no orange zest in gingerbread cookies! Blasphemy! And sprinkle with pearl sugar? I have NEVER heard anyone do that! You make a paste of confectioner's sugar, egg white and a tiny amount of fershly squeesed lemon juice (ca 6 dl/2,5 cups sugar, 1 large egg white and half a teaspoon lemon or so. It should be loose but not runny). You can add food coloring, too, red and green is popular. Dab a little paste on the cookie and stick a colored chocolate button on there. Here in sweden we have non stop and smarties (google "non stop marabou2 for referencene). Or, of you make big ones, line the edge with chocolate buttons and write your kids name in the middle (4th generation family tradition in my house to make one big heartshaped one for each kid and hang in the christmas tree for them to find on christmas morning (no toucing 'til after lunch, though). (And, take my "upsetness" with a barrel fo salt. The recipe is fine, albeit a bit non-traditional, sweden-wise=P)
- aniiee
- Stockholm, Sweden
- 12/16/2015
These are a great part of my regional Christmas cookie tradition - to represent my Swedish ancestry. I used a swap for the corn syrup (1/2 cup brown sugar & 1/8 cup water - heated until dissolved). I also usually add more orange zest. I have also found that the dough is hard as a rock when it comes out of the refrigerator, but if I let it sit out a bit it becomes easier to work with. I don't put anything on them. I just enjoy the basic and delicious cookie they are!
- emw25
- Los Angeles, CA
- 12/1/2015
A delicious tender cookie, like the love child of a sugar cookie and a gingersnap! An easy make ahead dough that stored well in the refrigerator until I was ready to roll and bake. I decorated with royal icing, but the suggested pearl sugar would be easy and good as well.
- newhaven
- St Louis, MO
- 12/12/2014
I made these for the 1st time & I do think you don’t need to add icing or frosting, they’re delicious enough without any additions. The dough was not very firm before going in the fridge, it ended up more as a flat rectangle on plastic wrap than as a ball. Maybe I needed to let the corn syrup mixture cool longer? My biggest note though is that I used average 3” cookie cutters & wound up with just over 3 dozen cookies, quite a bit less than 9 dozen as stated as the yield. The cookies were rolled to 1/4” thickness, I have guides for that, so the only thing I can think is they used small cookie cutters to get 9 dozen.
- Danielle
- Twinsburg, OH
- 12/14/2022