Pepparkakor Swedish ginger thins

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5 from 2 votes

Pepparkakor Swedish ginger thins

These traditional cookies are crisp, sweet and packed with delicious spice flavor.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

resting time (approx, or more)8

Total Time20

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Swedish

Servings: cookies, approx (depends on size)

Calories: 63kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoon water
7 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda bicarbonate of soda

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place the sugar, golden syrup and water in a pot/pan and warm over a medium low heat until the sugar has dissolved and everything has mixed. Remove form the heat.
Add the butter, cut in small chunks, to the warm sugar mixture and stir so that the butter melts and mixes in. Leave to cool slightly, if needed, so the mixture is warm but not hot.
Mix in the spices, flour and baking soda and stir well so that everything is combined and well distributed.
Bring the dough into a ball and wrap in cling wrap/film. The mixture will still be very soft - don't worry, it firms up in the fridge. If it spreads a bit, that's actually good - it's helpful to be relatively flat for when you roll it out once firmed up. Just make sure it stays in the wrapping (you could also put in a bag) rather than leaking. Place in the fridge overnight to firm up and for the flavors to mingle. You can leave it up to a week in the fridge at this stage.
When ready to use, take part of the dough at a time to roll out (about ⅓ is good). I'd recommend rolling out the dough on a silicone mat (or parchment paper) as this will make it easier if it sticks at all. Lightly four your surface and roll out the dough very thin, adding a little flour to the dough and/or rolling pin as needed so it doesn't stick. It will probably be hard to get it started but it does quickly soften.
Roll the dough to around ⅛in/3mm thick, or a little thinner. Cut shapes out and place the cookies on a baking sheet/tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment. Leave some space between cookies. While they do spread a bit, it's not as much as some cookies.
Repeat with the rest of the dough, adding any leftover scraps in with the next amount you roll out. If the leftovers are too soft, then instead form into a disk, wrap and put in the fridge a few minutes to firm up again to make easier to work with. Place the baking sheets with the rolled out cookies in the fridge, if at all possible, to keep them cool.
As you are part way through rolling and cutting, pre-heat the oven to 400F/200C. Once at temperature, bake the cookies in batches for 5 - 6 minutes. You may want to turn part way so they bake evenly. The cookies should go a medium brown and be relatively firm on the edges - the middle will still be soft when they come out the oven but will form up as they cool.
If you want to add decoration, wait until the cookies are completely cool - royal icing is the most traditional choice.

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Notes

If you choose to make your own royal icing, you can do this with 1 egg white, around 1 ¾cups/225g confectioner's sugar (icing sugar) and a squeeze of lemon juice. Beat the egg white until firm, then add sifted sugar, a spoonful at a time, and mix in before adding the next spoonful. Once you have added all the sugar, mix in the lemon juice. If needed, add a little more sugar to be a reasonably firm icing then transfer to a piping bag with a fine writing tip on it - in the US it's a "3" tip.

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