Swedish ginger thins, also known as Swedish gingerbread cookies, are more than just a delicious snack – they are a taste of tradition and a reflection of a festive spirit. Thins are a bit thinner than regular gingerbread cookies, they are crispy and melt in your mouth.
These gingerbread cookies are usually made for Christmas time. The whole of December is gingerbread cookie baking time. Let the enchanting aroma of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger fill your kitchen when you bake your own.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- You can bake these cookies to be just like the store-bought from Sweden.
- These cookies keep for a long time
- A great present to give to family and friends
My favorite type of gingerbread cookies is a bit thinner. Thins snap so nicely and just melt in your mouth. My favorite store-bought gingerbread cookies are called Anna´s. These are just about 0,1 inch thick, and are one of the most popular in Sweden. With my recipe, I wanted to try to replicate the same taste and consistency as in these most famous ones that have been baked for 100 years with the same recipe.
Anna´s also makes ginger thins with some flavor variations like almond, orange, and cappuccino. The orange one is definitely worth trying out. One tip is also to try out chocolate that is flavored with Anna´s gingerbreads.
Gingerbread day is the 9th of December in Sweden. This was originated by the Anna´s manufacturers.
History of gingerbreads in Sweden
The gingerbread is believed to have found its way to Sweden from Germany. In Germany, gingerbreads were made already in the Middle Ages. Gingerbread is mentioned for the first time in Sweden in 1444.
At first, it was the nuns who baked gingerbreads in Sweden. The cookies are believed to relieve digestion. In old recipes, gingerbreads included cardamom, anise, fennel, cedar oil, nutmeg, orange peel, and even pickled lemon. They were sweetened with honey. These were sold year-round as medicine in pharmacies and at fairs.
It is believed that pepper was used in old recipes-hence the nape pepparkaka-meaning pepper cake in Swedish.
During the 19th century, gingerbread became associated with Christmas in Sweden. Probably because more and more people had the opportunity to buy flour and sugar.
An old game is to crack a gingerbread cookie in your hand, and if the cookie breaks into three pieces, you get silently wish for something.(source)
Swedish gingerbread thins are often made without icing. Families with kids do like to use icing, called kristyr in Swedish. You can make your gingerbread cookies with or without icing decorations.
Ingredients and variations
- Butter
- Molasses or dark corn syrup
- Heavy cream
- Sugar
- Flour
- Bicarbonate- same as baking soda
- Ground ginger
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Ground green cardamom (optional)
Cardamom is one ingredient that you can leave out from the recipe if you have hard time finding it. Alternatively, for the spices, you can use a homemade gingerbread spice mix.
In Finland, bitter orange peel is used in gingerbread recipes, so this is one variation you can try. Add one tablespoon of pomerans in your recipe. Another option is to add some drops of orange oil or grated orange zest.
To make milk-free cookies, use margarine in the recipe. Replace the heavy cream with a plant-based cream.
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the butter, sugar, molasses, and heavy cream in a saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Do not bring to a boil. Let it cool down a bit.
- Combine wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Stir together until a dough forms.
- Shape the dough into a round ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator overnight. You can also use an air-tight container as in the picture.
- Take half of the chilled dough and make into a ball. Roll out on a well-floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut into shapes and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
- Gather the scraps and roll them out again on a floured surface. It is good to bake same-size cookies on baking sheets. If the dough or gathered scraps gets too soft to handle, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate because chilling the dough will harden it slightly and make it easier to roll out.
- Place your ginger thins spaced out, since they spread a bit in the oven. Bake in a preheated oven for 5 minutes or until the edges are just set, and the cookies are lightly golden.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cookies are cool, you can decorate them with icing or enjoy them as they are.
Tips and notes
Do note that this dough is very soft, so it is not the easiest to handle. Especially if you have more complicated patterns, or want to make thin cookies. Use a cheese slicer or frying spatula to lift them gently to the baking sheet.
Resting time in the fridge is important. This makes the dough more flavorful if you let it rest overnight. If you can not let it rest overnight, then at least for 3 hours. The dough can be in the fridge even longer if you don't have the time to bake all your cookies at once.
It is good to work with the dough as it is chilled. The dough should be very firm when coming out of the fridge. If it does not roll out nicely, warm the dough ball in your hands.
Real butter makes the difference. Real butter makes a richer-tasting cookie. Another variation is to use browned butter in the recipe.
This recipe is not for making gingerbread houses. This dough is too soft for that purpose. This is planned to be a moist snappy, crispy cookie. Gingerbread house walls need to have more flour in the dough so the consistency is a bit more sturdy.
How to serve
- As dessert. Serve as they are with a cup of coffee or tea for fika.
- At a glöggparty. In Sweden it is common to celebrate lillajul "little Christmas". At adults party it is common to serve mulled red wine or mulled white wine (glögg). As sweet snacks gingerbread cookies, candied almonds and knäck-swedish toffee.
- With cheeses. These flavorsome small cookies go exceptionally well with hard and soft cheeses. One Swedish peculiarity is to serve some blue cheese on top with gingerbread cookies.
- Use in other recipes. It is common to serve crumbled gingerbread cookies on top of vanilla ice cream, mixed in chocolate, mixed in cake recipes or to made as a dessert like trfle, in tall glass with mascarpone and caramel sauce.
Storing
Store in a cool, dry place. Moisture can cause the cookies to become soft or lose their crispness. Avoid storing gingerbread cookies in the refrigerator, as the humidity can negatively impact their texture.
Gingerbread cookies can absorb odors from the environment, so avoid storing them near strongly scented foods.
In my experience freshly baked cookies taste the best for up to a week from baking. They do store for up to a month if you keep them from moisture. Ginger thins can also be frozen, then they last 3-6 months.
Common questions
Pepparkaka means pepper cake-not ginger cake as many think. IT might have been that some old recipe did have pepper in it or that all exotic spices were called pepper in the medieval history.
Swedish Gingerbreads should be crisp and firm in texture, making them suitable for decorating with icing. If you make them a bit thicker they can be slightly chewy in the middle. If you like dofter cookies, adjust the baking time -less time in the oven results in softer cookies. Ginger thins will harden further as they cool.
The butter in the dough needs to firm up. This affects how much they spread in the oven.
It is common in Scandinavia to eat raw dough. This has not raw eggs so it is relatively safe, but flour can have bacteria, like E.coli when it is not heated. (source)
Swedish ginger thins
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter (225g)
- ½ cup molasses
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1¼ cup sugar
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon bicarbonate
- 2 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1,5 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoon ground green cardamom
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, molasses, and heavy cream. Heat the mixture over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Do not bring it to a boil. Let it cool down a bit.
- Combine wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Stir together until a dough forms.
- Shape the dough into a round ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator overnight. You can also use an air-tight container for storing.
- Take half of the chilled dough and make into a ball. Roll out on a well-floured surface to about ⅙ inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut into shapes and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Place your ginger thins spaced out.
- Gather the scraps and roll them out again on a floured surface. It is good to bake same-size cookies on baking sheets. You will get at least 8-10 sheets of cookies from this recipe.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 390F (200C) for 5 minutes or until the edges are set, and cookies are lightly golden.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cookies are cool, you can decorate them with icing or enjoy them as they are
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