The best Gingerbread cookies

I've made gingerbread cookies (known as Pepparkakor here in Sweden, and probably gingersnaps in most of the world) many times, and I've tried several different recipes. You can always buy your dough chilled in the grocery store this time of year (possibly at IKEA for those of you who aren't in Sweden) but it's incredibly easy to make your own.

This recipe is quite different, since it doesn't contain butter. It's certainly not a "diet" sort of recipe though - it has plenty of sugar and cream. The cookies are really flavorful, and with an almost caramel crunch. Irresistible! The dough should rest in the fridge for at least a few days (and up to three weeks) so make it right away!

And you'll get a LOT of cookies. I divided my dough into six portions, each one made about two baking sheets of cookies. It'll all depend on the size of your cookie cutters. And save those with tiny details for another recipe, because these tend to fluff up a bit and don't hold their shape as well as some others I've tried. However, the taste more than makes up for that.



The best Gingerbread cookies
(printable recipe)
makes a whole lot of cookies

300 ml cream (35-40% fat content)
300 ml golden syrup
700 g granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1,5 tsp cloves, ground
1 tsp cardamom, ground
1/2 tsp bitter orange peel, ground
2 tsp ginger, ground
1,5 tbsp baking soda
1 kg flour

Mix cream, golden syrup and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, or stir together by hand. Add all the spices and the baking soda, along with half of the flour. Gradually add the rest of the flour until you have a nice, supple dough that's not too tacky. Divide into six logs, and place each in a plastic bag or plastic wrap. Keep in the fridge for at least a few days, but preferrably a week.

Roll out and cut into desired shapes, and bake at 160°C for 8-10 minutes. (8 was perfect in my convection oven, for fairly small cookies.)

Recipe in Swedish:
Bästa pepparkakorna