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Prep time
24 hours
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Cook time
15 minutes
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Makes
a bunch
Author Notes
I make these every Christmas and every time I do, I thank my friend Eric for sharing it with me, but I am especially grateful to his Swedish great-gran Ellen who was an amazing baker and lived until she was 98. As Eric says, “From what I can tell, Swedish cookies and a gin martini every night before dinner were the keys to her longevity.”
Note to those wanting to gift this cookie at the holidays: she is a humble, austere-looking cookie (that is delicious and crisp!) If you feel the need to tart her up, she looks very fetching with curlicues of white royal icing. —mtrelaun
Ingredients
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1 cup
unsalted butter
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3/4 cup
dark brown sugar or muscovado
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3/4 cup
white sugar
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1
egg
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2 tablespoons
dark corn syrup or a mix of molasses and golden syrup
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1 tablespoon
water
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3 1/4 cups
AP flour
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2 teaspoons
baking soda
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2 teaspoons
each of ground cardamom, ground clove. ground ginger (so 6 tsp total)
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3 teaspoons
ground cinnamon
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1 1/2 tablespoons
freshly grated orange zest (approx 2 oranges’ worth)
Directions
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In a large bowl, cream butter. In a separate bowl, combine sugars and rub them together with the orange zest to release the essential oils. Add the sugar-zest mixture to butter and combine.
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Add egg and beat until homogenous.
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Stir in corn syrup (or molasses + golden syrup) and water.
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In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients together then add them gradually into your butter/egg/etc goo stirring until things coalesce.
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Gather dough into a ball. Cut it in half to make 2 balls, flatten a bit and cover with cling film. Refrigerate dough overnight (24 hrs is best, but the cookies can still be made after 12.)
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The next day when you're reading to roll production, preheat oven to 350° F.
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On a lightly floured board, roll out dough so it is about 1/4" thick. Cut out your pepparkakors using a smallish, 2" in diameter cookie cutter. Any shape is fine so long as the cookie itself is petite. These should be 1-2 bite wonders, not more. As Eric’s great-gran said, “The store bought kind are like doorknobs. No. No. No. Don’t do it.” Space the cookies around 1"-1.5" apart.
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Bake for 10-15 mn. It is a fine line to burnt so watch them. When cool, they should be crispy, not chewy.
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