Tuesday 25 September 2018

Swedish Ginger Biscuits - Pepparkakor

My cousin does a lot of overseas travelling and she often brings back wonderful kitchen goodies for me.  On one of her trips away, she got me a cute elk biscuit cutter, with a recipe for pepparkakor enclosed.  (Apparently, it's moose in Canada, and elk in Europe.)  I think it's adorable whatever you call it.  It has taken me a while but I've finally got around to making these biscuits.  And oh boy, does it make a lot of them:=)




Image result for farg form moose cookie cutter
Farg&Form elk cookie cutter 



Start this recipe one day ahead!


ingredients:


330g. butter, softened

450g. caster sugar

6 tbs golden syrup

2 tbs ground cinnamon

1 tbs ground cloves

1 tbs ground ginger

2 tbs ground cardamom

1 tbs bicarb of soda

200 mLs water

900g. plain (all-purpose) flour


Method:


On Day 1, make the dough:


Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl

Add the sugar and golden syrup and beat in well

In go the spices - cinnamon/cloves/ginger/cardamom, and bicarb soda

Stir them in till well-combined

Tip in the water and give it a stir; no need to beat in

Now work in the flour in 3 or 4 lots; combine well each time

Knead well on a lightly-floured surface till you have a nice, smooth huge ball of dough

Wrap it tightly in cling film and place in the fridge for 24 hours!


Day 2:


Take the dough out of the fridge, and let it warm up a bit (say 10 minutes?) 'cos it will be hard, baby

Roll it out to 4-5 mm thick - I suggest rolling out a third of the dough at a time 'cos it is big!

Cut out shapes or use whatever biscuit cutter you have - make sure you press the cutter into some flour first

Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper or a silicone mat

Bake at 210C for 4-5 minutes

Leave on the baking tray for a few minutes to cool down, then place on a wire rack to cool completely

Decorate with icing sugar/water mix if desired


Notes:


I used an American measuring spoon here so each one is 15 mLs


The recipe says to bake at 200-225C.  Now I think that is a huge difference, even depending on your oven!  So try it at 210C


You can ice these with a simple icing sugar and water mix, or just eat the naked mooses/elks

FYI, I only baked one third of the dough this time around.  It made 17 elks!  More than enough for me and Mr P.  I have cut the rest up into several pieces, wrapped in freezer bags, then another bag and popped into the freezer for baking another time.  You can leave it in the freezer for up to 3 months





ingredients gathered




cream the butter, beat in sugar and syrup



add the spices and bicarb soda



give the water a quick stir in 



stir in the flour, a third at a time 



knead the dough into a smooth ball

The Next Day:



roll out the dough to about 5 mm thickness 




place on tray ready for baking @210C for 4-5 mins.



yep, definitely mutant roadkill




wrap and freeze the rest of the dough for later use if you are short on time 

Yep I know, it looks like illicit drugs, ready for pick up by a crazed drug mule:=)




a plateful of mutant elks, and my shoe





spicy artwork by sherry's pickings

20 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. hi Liz
      lovely to see you here. yes they are quite nice - a little spicy and a little sweet. hope retirement is treating you very well. cheers sherry

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  2. Cute! I like icing cookies but these look quite nice on their own. I think, somewhere in the depths on my drawers I have a moose cutter!

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    Replies
    1. The only problem was the eyes 👀. They kept sticking inside the cutter.

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  3. The moose look like they're squinting! I am not good with cookie cutters so all of my cookies would look like blind meese!

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    Replies
    1. hi mimi
      i just kept having so much trouble with the eye holes:) the dough stuck like billy-o!

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  4. How lovely thank you for sharing, I had some purchased Pepparkakor recently and the spiced flavour was refreshing and not too sweet. I will definitely be making these .... that gorgeous Elk cutter is delightful. Moose road kill worth eating for sure 8)

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    Replies
    1. Hi merryn
      A bit of roadkill never hurt anyone:). I like that these are only mildly sweet and spicy. Cheers S

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  5. such cute shapes - and is it took early to say they would be great as Christmas presents.

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  6. Wow, love that biscuit/cookie cutter! So much fun. Really nice recipe, too -- love spiced cookies. Good stuff -- thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks KR. They are a nice little treat. Cheers S

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  7. Hi Sherry —Those cookies look too cute to eat but too delicious not to! I’m not sure if I’m going to see a moose this week: I’ll be on a ship looking around the islands between Seattle and Vancouver. My September wrap-up is scheduled for tomorrow, but I may not have any internet acces to connect to IMK for a while — feel free to link me in if you want to! Have a great week, too.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. have a wonderful time Mae. I would love to link you in, so will do that tomorrow. cheers and happy sailing sherry x

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  8. I love Ginger biscuits Sherry, really love them so I should try this recipe. The elks are so cute, I am thinking it could be a good recipe for Christmas in various shapes, what do you think? I like the idea of being able to freeze some of the dough, sort of continuous biscuit shapes depending on the mood.Thanks for sharing this one. Pauline

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  9. I love Ginger biscuits Sherry, really love them so I should try this recipe. The elks are so cute, I am thinking it could be a good recipe for Christmas in various shapes, what do you think? I like the idea of being able to freeze some of the dough, sort of continuous biscuit shapes depending on the mood.Thanks for sharing this one. Pauline

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank goodness i thought to freeze it cos there is so much dough:) cheers S

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