These Swedish Gingersnaps, also known as Pepparkakor, are thin, crisp, and full of warm spices with just a hint of pepper for extra kick. I first made them for a Girl Scout World Thinking Day when our troop was assigned Sweden, and they've stuck with me ever since as one of the most distinctive holiday cookies I've tried. Well, next to the Danish cookies the year we were assigned Denmark. Those were off the hook. But these are very good as far as thin and crisp ginger cookies go.

Unlike softer ginger cookies, Pepparkakor are meant to be snappy and delicate, with a deep caramelized flavor and a spice blend that leans bold-think ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and yes, a touch of black pepper. That little bit of pepper is what sets them apart and gives them their traditional Swedish character.

If you like crunchy cookies and strong spice flavor, these are a fun change from classic American gingersnaps. They're especially nice around the holidays, but honestly, they're good any time you want something a little different.

Swedish Gingersnaps (Pepparkakor) dough being cut on parchment paper.

Recipe

Swedish Gingersnaps aka Pepparkakor

Anna

Very thin cookies with a little heat from cayenne pepper. The yield will vary depending on how thin you actually roll the dough and how large the cutters are. Also, it's best to weigh the flour. The recipe is adapted from Cook's Illustrated and they used to count flour as 140 grams per cup, which is why this recipe has 350 grams of flour for 2 ½ cups.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 8 20

Total Time 8 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine Swedish

Servings 60 cookies

Ingredients

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (350 grams)
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 small dash of cayenne pepper and a dash of black pepper
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks (170 grams)
1 ¼ cups packed dark brown soft sugar (260 grams)
¼ cup molasses (80 grams)
1 large egg (50 grams)
1 large yolk (18 grams)

Instructions

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and spices together in a bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan, brown the butter.
Remove from heat and add the molasses and brown sugar. Stir until smooth, then scrape into a mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.
When the mixture is warm rather than piping hot, whisk in the egg and yolk.
Add the flour mixture and stir until you have a fully blended dough.
Divide dough into 4 sections. Press or roll each section into a very thin (less than ⅛ of an inch) slab. Do this on large pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Carefully stack your slabs of thin dough on a baking sheet or tray and put them in the refrigerator and chill for several hours or until very firm.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Remove one of the chilled thin slabs of dough from the refrigerator and use a cookie cutter to cut 2 inch shapes . Arrange shapes on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Repeat with a second slab of dough, fitting as many cookies as you can on the baking sheet but keeping them spaced by about an inch.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cookies appear set. Let them cool completely on a wire rack. They will crisp and become hard as they cool.

Notes

Instead of using 12 tablespoons of butter, you can substitute 6 tablespoons of butter and 6 tablespoons shortening.

Keyword Swedish Gingersnaps

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Comments

Elyse says

February 23, 2009 at 8:45 am

What a great activity--and the best part of baking, of course, is the reward! I'm sure these girls were quite rewarded with such a yummy-sounding recipe!
Anna says

February 22, 2009 at 6:27 pm

Beth, what kept me from being scared of Other Mother was that I knew it was Teri Hatcher....so I kept thinking of Other Mother as Susan from Desperate Housewives.

I hope your son recovers from the Coraline scare.

On another topic, the gingerbread cookies were great! My friend Laura didn't bother to cut them. Instead, she rolled them into tiny circles, pressed them down and sprinkled sugar on the top.
beth says

February 22, 2009 at 6:10 pm

Good for Fuzz! My 5th grade son is still freaked out about Coraline. I didn't see it with him, but I hear "Other Mother" is something else:)
Sue says

February 22, 2009 at 3:12 pm

I'll have to compare this recipe to a recipe for "Soft Gingersnaps" that came from a Swedish family's recipe box. I hope the girls have fun baking them and that they enjoy Thinking Day.
Carol A, says

February 22, 2009 at 12:26 pm

Have fun, Fuzz!

So, is it "Happy Thinking" Day (as in, think happy thoughts) or Happy "Thinking" Day (as in, "have a fun day of thinking!)? Either one works, I guess.
C L says

February 22, 2009 at 10:57 am

Best luck and good wishes to Fuzz and Friends! GS Cookies Rock! 🙂 I eagerly await your review of the Gingersnaps as they are the first choice of a friend of mine who is in need of a cookie fix. 🙂

How much "thinking" is involved on Thinking Day...deep thoughts or just light "woolgathering"? LOL 😉
Dani says

February 22, 2009 at 10:05 am

gotta love girl scouts... and their cookies :p
VeggieGirl says

February 22, 2009 at 9:47 am

Hope Fuzz has fun with the activities today!! I used to be a Girl Scout 🙂

Swedish Gingersnaps