Danish Christmas cookies

Pebernødder

Danish "pebernødder" - or "peberkager" (translates to pepper cakes), as they used to be called - are among the Danish cakes that can be traced back the furthest. They have been baked since the Middle Ages. And it wasn't until the 1700s that they became a special Christmas treat, otherwise they were baked all year round. The word 'peberkage' doesn't just cover cakes with pepper in them, but cakes with all kinds of spices in them, because 'to pepper' is understood as seasoning in general.

INGREDIENTS 250 g soft butter 250 g sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground ginger 1 ½ tsp cinnamon 2 pinches white pepper 500 g wheat flour

HOW TO

Mix the butter and sugar well in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, to incorporate them into the butter.

Mix the baking powder and spices into the flour, and stir this into the butter and egg mixture. Knead well to form a fine, smooth dough.

Roll the dough into finger-thick sausages on a floured board, and cut them into small pieces ½-2 cm long, depending on how big or small you want your pebernødder. They will rise a bit during baking, so keep that in mind when rolling.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C at convection. Roll the pebernødder into rounds and place them on baking sheets with baking paper - it takes a lot.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden and delicious. Keep a close eye on them - suddenly they get too dark. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a baking tray.

Continue baking until all the pebernødder are baked and ready to be packed into airtight containers. Packed well, the cookies can keep for several weeks if allowed to.

Julesmåkage

A Danish favorite "julesmåkage" (Christmas cookie) are a small crispy cookie with cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon sugar gets nice and crunchy and a bit caramelized during baking, you have to try them ♡

INGREDIENTS 300 g wheat flour 140 g sugar 2 pinches of ammonium bicarbonate 250 g butter 1 egg, beaten Garnish 1 egg, beaten 4 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp cinnamon

HOW TO

Mix flour, sugar and deer salt well together. Crumble butter into flour mixture until completely crumbled.

Quickly combine the dough with the beaten egg.

Leave to rest in a cool place for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out the cookies with the shape you want, and place the cookies on a baking sheet with baking paper.

Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Keep an eye on them. The biscuits should not take on too much colour, but only be slightly light brown at the edges.

Let them cool before putting them in a Christmas cookie jar.