Pepparkakor – Swedish Ginger Snaps

Having recently bought a vacuum sealing machine so that I can use it to store food for longer and more efficiently I wanted to make some biscuits/cookies and then use the machine to pack some and see how long they will store.

So for that I decided to make Pepparkakor, Swedish Ginger Snaps. In Sweden these are traditionally made and eaten at Christmas time.  I hadn’t heard of them until I saw a large tin of them in a local store.  That piqued my interest so I was soon searching on the internet to find out about them.  I was sufficiently interested in them that I decided to make them today, firstly to make others aware of them if they don’t know of them.  Secondly to make something to try out my vacuum sealer.

The recipe is actually very simple but it does take some time as it is recommended to chill the dough overnight.  It is a wet dough and needs to firm up in the fridge so that it can be rolled out very thinly.

I made mine and used some quite small cookie cutters to make the shapes.  But they can be made any size and any shape that is desired.  The important thing is that they should be thin enough that they will be crisp throughout after baking. 

For mine, having researched various recipes, I expected them to bake in about 5 minutes, but they actually took 10 minutes to bake to give a lovely crisp and crunchy bite to them.

They taste so good, with the lovely spicy flavour. Although I used cardamom, which is traditional it seems, if that is not available something like all spice would be a good variation.  I also recommend adjusting the amounts of spices to suit the individual likes of those baking/eating them.  

• 150g (10 1/2 tbsp) butter
• 250g(1 1/4 cups) sugar, I used half caster sugar and half light brown sugar
• 50g(2 1/2 tbsp)golden syrup
• 20g(1 tbsp)black treacle/molasses
• 1tbsp ground ginger
• 1tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp groud cloves
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 450g (3 1/2 cups) plain flour
• 100ml(1/3 cup + 4stp water

Method:

1. Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup and black treacle into a saucepan and heat, stirring until all is melted and combined.
2. Add the spices and stir in to combine.
3. Turn off the heat and add the baking soda and stir in to combine.
4. Pour into a large bowl( or if you are using a large enough saucepan do it in that) and stir in the flour in about 4 additions, adding the water as well as you are stirring everything in together.
5. When the mixture is all fully combined it will be wet and sticky.  Tip out onto some plastic wrap and wrap it up into a block.
6. Chill in the fridge overnight(or for at least 2 hours) so that it chills and sets quite firm.
7. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C/400F and line some baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Roll the dough out on a floured surface, remembering to flour the rolling pin too, to a thickness of 1/8 inch – 3 mm.
9. Use cookie cutters of choice to cut out shapes and place them on the baking trays.
10. Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, watching closely, until the cookies are baked crisp and have started to darken slightly. 
11. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.