Pepperkaker

(Norwegian Ginger Cookie) 

 
 
 
 

Tis the season for too many holiday cookies, and we could resist Ju's family recipe for the Norwegian holiday ginger cookie: pepperkaker. Contrary to our typical cookie preference, these are delightfully light and crispy. Pepperkaker are arguably the most popular Christmas cookie in Norway, though they can be found as "pepparkakor" in Sweden, too. While they don't have brown sugar in them, the molasses makes them taste like a buttery brown sugar cookie with spiciness from ground ginger. Ju makes these every year during the holidays, but they don't last long, despite the fact that this recipe makes a ton of cookies. They're the perfect pair to a morning cup of coffee, afternoon cup of tea or snack in between meetings because damn that meeting was boring (not speaking from experience, obviously). They're also an excuse to use the cookie cutters you store all year. For years Dak called these "squirrel cookies" because every time Ju had cut them into squirrels—turns out this was just the only cookie cutter she had. If you don't have any cookie cutters, good on you. Just roll them out thin and use a glass to stamp out circles.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar

  • 1 egg

  • 1 tablespoon molasses

  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

  • 2 tsp baking soda

  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon

  • 2 tsp ginger

  • 1 tsp ground cloves

 

Instructions

  1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.

  2. Beat butter in a bowl until softened. Add sugar gradually, creaming well. Add egg and beat thoroughly. Blend in molasses.

  3. Blend flour, baking soda, and spices; add to creamed butter mixture gradually, mixing until blended.

  4. Chill dough until easy to handle. Using a portion of the chilled dough at a time, roll dough portion out on a lightly floured surface, to about 1/8-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut cookies.

  5. Transfer cookies to a lined baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes; remove immediately to wire cooling racks.

  6. Repeat this process until all dough has been used- the recipe makes a ton of cookies, so feel free to store half of the dough in the fridge to cut out another day (it keep for about 2-3 days).

    Makes about 4 dozen cookies