Swedish gingerbread cookies (pepparkakor) with ginger and cloves

Swedish gingerbread cookies in the style of pepparkakor, made with spelt flour, butter and honey, with cinnamon, ginger, cloves and cardamom. Family-friendly desserts, 181 kcal per four cookies.

At a glance

• Serves 12
• Prep time: 40 min
• Cooking time: 24 min
• Total time: 64 min
• Calories: 181 kcal per serving
• Protein: 3 g
• Fat: 7 g
• Carbs: 26 g

Ingredients

• 100g butter
• 80g honey
• 60g coconut sugar
• 0.5 tsp ground cloves
• 3 tbsp orange juice
• 250g spelt flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 0.5 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 pinch of salt

Method

You’ll need: oven · saucepan · baking tray · wooden spoon · cookie cutters

1. Heat the butter, honey and coconut sugar in a pan until the butter has melted. Stir in the cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and cardamom and let the mixture cool until lukewarm.
2. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the orange juice and stir it in. Knead in the spelt flour and salt to make a smooth dough.
3. Wrap the dough and leave it to rest in the fridge overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (180 °C fan). Roll the dough out 2 mm thin between baking paper and cut out hearts, stars or elks.
5. Bake the cookies on trays lined with baking paper one tray at a time at 200 °C for 5 to 6 minutes each, until the edges darken.
6. Leave them to cool on the tray for 5 minutes – they turn crisp as they cool.

Good to know

In Sweden, pepparkakor are part of Advent: thin spiced cookies that snap when you bite them. The dough rests overnight and then rolls out 2 mm thin. With honey instead of syrup, they stay a little softer in the middle.

Swaps

Butter → coconut oil. Spelt flour → plain flour. Orange juice → water. Cardamom → allspice.

Cooking tips

The thin cookies go too dark in seconds, so stay by the oven while they bake. The thinner you roll them, the crisper they get.

Storage

Keeps for 4 weeks in a tin stored somewhere dry.

Allergens

Contains gluten (spelt) and milk (butter); egg-free and nut-free. Because of the honey, not suitable for children under 1 year.