I always love a cooking challenge and so was happy to be asked for a Pepparkakor recipe. These Swedish Ginger thins are a Scandinavian Christmas must have and rightly deserve a place on my site.
I’ve only had the Anna brand ones, those very thin crisp flower shapes biscuits often found in health food shops. They always make me think fondly of my step-Grandmother who would always buy Anna’s Ginger thins and a variety of dried fruit for my girls to graze on when they were tiny. She was always very kind to me and made such an effort to cater for us, despite the dietary challenges.
These pepparkakor are a little less thin and crisp and not so dark in colour as I only had syrup available rather than the syrup and treacle required. But the spice is spot on and they make a lovely addition to the Christmas spread.
Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Thins)
(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)
makes 16-20
125g dairy-free margarine
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
50g caster sugar
40g soft-brown sugar
50g golden syrup (or ideally 25g treacle and 25g syrup)
35ml water
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
- Cream together the margarine, sugar and spices.
- Melt the syrup (or syrup and treacle) into the water
- Add the syrup mix and flour, bicarb and salt to the creamed margarine and mix to a soft dough.
- wrap and rest for a couple of hours in the fridge
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade
- Roll out the dough to 2-3mm thick and stamp out festive shapes.
- Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 5-6 minutes until golden
- Cool on a wire rack
- These are best iced but if you don’t have time (like me) a little dusting of icing sugar is nice too 🙂
