At a glance
You're making crispy, fragrant Swedish gingerbread cookies that require an overnight fridge rest to develop their full flavor. After mixing warm spiced honey into the dough, rolling out thin shapes, and baking for just 10 minutes, you'll have a batch that rivals those beloved IKEA tins—and you can enjoy them any time of year, not just at Christmas.
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Fragrant honey
Warm the honey in a saucepan. Crush the cloves in a mortar and pestle. Add the spices to the honey and stir well. Remove from the heat.
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Sticky dough
Combine both types of flour with the baking powder. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix into a soft, non-sticky dough.
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Overnight in the fridge
Put the dough into a bag or wrap it in plastic film. Leave it in the fridge overnight. The next day, let the dough sit at room temperature for about an hour to warm up.
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Tips from the Yumsto kitchen
Why pepparkakor are crisp
Unlike Czech gingerbread, they are rolled to only 2 to 3 mm. A thin sheet bakes dry in ten minutes and snaps once cool. The spices bloom more in warm honey than when stirred into flour. Cream adds fat, so the cookies are crisp rather than hard. A night in the fridge firms the dough and lets the whole-grain flour hydrate.
Preparation tips
Let the spiced honey cool to lukewarm before adding it to the fat. Hot honey would melt the fat and make the dough greasy. Roll in portions between two sheets of paper and keep the rest covered. The thickness must be even everywhere, or thin spots will scorch. The cookies are still soft when they come out and turn crisp only once cool.
When something goes wrong
Not crisp once cool: too thick or underbaked. Put them back in the oven for two minutes. Burnt edges: the sheet is thinner at the edges, or they baked low in the oven. Shapes distort when moving them: slide the cut shapes onto the baking sheet on their paper instead of lifting them by hand.
Serving and decorating
In Sweden they are eaten plain or with thin white lines of icing, which you pipe with a fine writing tip. To hang them on the tree, punch a hole with a straw before baking. They go well with tea and mulled wine, and make a good gift in a tin.
Storage
In a tightly closed tin they stay crisp for several weeks. Don't store them with soft cookies, which would pass on moisture and soften them. If they do go soft, a few minutes in the oven brings them back.
Common questions
Can I use wheat flour?
Yes, all-purpose wheat flour works. Whole-grain spelt gives a nutty taste and darker color.
Isn't ten grams of cloves a lot?
Clove is the main aroma in this recipe. If you don't love it, use less and the cookies will be milder.
Why thinner than Czech gingerbread?
Pepparkakor are meant to be crisp cookies, not soft gingerbread. What makes them crisp is above all the 2 to 3 mm thickness.
Does the dough have to rest overnight?
Yes. Fresh dough is soft and sticky; after a night it rolls out thinly.
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