Pepperkaker A Norwegian Christmas tradition

December 1st 2018  

I can't help myself, it is December and something stirs inside me like a small child.  The excitement despite my advancing years creeps in and a smile is never far from my face.  This is my favourite time of year.  The run-up to Christmas for me brings joy.  It is a time spent happily in the kitchen making and baking with love.  Yes, we are surrounded by commercialism and we stress too much and rush around trying to fit everything in but what is important?  To me, it is family and friends and sharing time together and when I am in my kitchen baking the traditional 7 biscuits for the season I do it thinking of my loved ones near and far and counting my blessings.  I make no apologies for sounding mushy and over-sentimental and soppy, this is my time of year.

What's a Norwegian Christmas without pepperkake, the English equivalent of Christmas ginger cookies.  Well, it's not Christmas in our household without this firm favourite and by the time the season is over, I will probably have made 4 or 5 batches.  Those of you who are returning friends will recognise these biscuits immediately as we bake them year on year, you too will notice it is exactly the same photo with the old pepperkake recipe, why fix something that is not broken, eh?  For new friends, welcome to the eclectic home, grab a drink and stay a while and peruse the very eclectic mix of baking, making and life from a multicultural home with a twist-heavy on the Scandinavian side.

Great to nibble on, wonderful with a cup of coffee and the perfect small homemade gift.

Keep some dough in the fridge ~ it can last if wrapped well for about 3 weeks, you can roll out a few biscuits and have them on hand warm and ready to eat within twenty minutes.  They do keep well in an airtight container for the festive season too.  AND the dough can be frozen in advance too for up to 3 months, just remember to defrost it thoroughly before using!

Pepperkake:  this recipe comes out year after year

Method:

♥  Melt on a low heat, the syrup, sugar and butter.

♥  Allow to cool ever so slightly and then beat in the egg thoroughly.

♥  Sift in the flour, baking powder and spice and mix well.

At this stage the dough is quite gloopy, I tend to leave it in the pan and then place it in the fridge overnight, but you can transfer to a smaller bowl if you so wished.  This year I allowed it to cool in the pan for an hour or so and once it began to be semi-hard, I removed the mixture from the pan and rolled it into two fat sausage shapes, wrapping each separately in cling film and then placed into the fridge overnight.  This allowed me to slice off the next day exactly the right amount to roll out small batches at a time.  TIP: this dough softens very quickly, so only roll out and use a small amount at a time.

♥  The next day take out only a small amount of dough (see note 3) and roll out on a floured surface to about 3-4 mm thick and cut out shapes placing cookies on a greaseproof lined baking tray.  this is important.

♥  Bake on 175 degrees for approximately 10 minutes, or as in my fast oven less, until just golden brown.

♥  Cool on a wire rack before either icing or placing in an airtight container.  These will last for 2-3 weeks

Pepperkake can be cut out with any cookie cutter but 
traditionally they are heart shapes in Norway.

Adding icing to the peperkake give them a very different look

Pepperkake make great little gifts, recycle old jam jars,
 making good airtight containers too

♥ Baking the 1st of 7 traditional Norwegian biscuits for the festive season, will you join in with me?  ♥