Moderna Pepparkakor: Modern Swedish Gingerbread Cookies

Unlike American or British gingerbread, Moderna Pepparkakor: Modern Swedish Gingerbread Cookies are thin and crisp. They are heavily spiced with cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and anise. This recipe is straightforward and forgiving.

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From the Bakery to You

This recipe draws inspiration from my time working at a bakery in Stockholm. We would kick off each November by preparing large batches, gradually increasing production as the holiday season unfolded. These cookies were sold in various forms—individually as large hearts, in packs of 10 shaped like pigs, or as raw dough for you to bake at home.

Moderna Pepparkakor vs Farmors Pepparkakor

Having grown up eating pepparkakor, my family and I would spend hours each year rolling, cutting, and baking together. When I moved to Sweden, I expected the cookies to be similar to the ones I grew up with. However, there was a distinct difference, particularly in the spices used. My grandmother’s recipe (farmors pepparkakor) is more austere, flavored only with cloves and orange zest. In the bakery recipe, we incorporated generous amounts of cinnamon, cloves, anise, vanilla, and a touch of salt.

Let the Dough Age

One of the remarkable features of this dough is its extended refrigeration potential. While not literally forever, it can sit in the refrigerator for a very long time. The dough needs at least overnight to rest, but the longer it chills, the better it gets. At the bakery, we often started making the dough several weeks in advance to let it properly age. This aging process allows the spices to meld into a cohesive flavor and deepens the color of the cookies.

The Cookies Keep!

Once baked, Moderna Pepparkakor: Modern Swedish Gingerbread Cookies have a long shelf life. Their dry nature prevents molding, and although they will eventually become stale, storing them in a container with a tight lid ensures they easily last for a month on the counter.

Print Recipe

Moderna Pepparkakor: Modern Swedish Gingerbread Cookies

Unlike American or British gingerbread, Moderna Pepparkakor: Modern Swedish Gingerbread Cookies are thin and crisp. They are heavily spiced with cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and anise. This recipe is straightforward and fairly forgiving.

Ingredients

• 150 g butter
• 200 g sugar
• 205 g golden syrup gulsirap
• 6 g ground ginger
• 5 g ground cloves
• 18 g ground cinnamon
• 3 g ground anise
• 5 g vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
• 1 g salt
• 150 g cream
• 625 g all purpose flour
• 5 g baking soda

Instructions

• Combine butter, sugar, golden syrup, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, anise, vanilla sugar, and salt in a bowl.
• Stir in half of the cream. Once fully combined, stir in the other half.
• Add the flour and baking soda to the bowl. Mix until completely homogeneous.
• Divide the dough into four portions.
• Wrap each portion in plastic and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
• Take one piece of dough at a time from the fridge and roll it out thinly. It’s easiest to roll out while still cold.
• Stamp out your desired shapes and place them on a baking tray lined with a silpat or parchment paper.
• Bake at 190C(375F) for about 7 minutes or until they turn a beautiful golden brown.
• Once baked, let the cookies cool on a wire rack before enjoying.

Notes

The dough is best prepared ahead of time and allowed to rest in the fridge. 24 hours is the minimum but the dough can sit in the fridge for over a month without a problem. If well-wrapped, it keeps in the freezer even longer. Once baked these cookies can last for a couple weeks in a cookie tin stored in a cool, dry place.