Is it even Christmas without some form of gingerbread in your cookie jar? This Finnish gingerbread recipe is worthy of baking not only during the holiday season but all year long. These ginger cookies differ a little from what you’re likely used to in that they don’t feature any molasses, relying instead on a spice blend for their flavor. This gives them a nice “spicy” flavor that I know you’ll love!
A fun fact- the name of these cookies, both in Finnish and the other Scandinavian languages, actually means something closer to “pepper cookies” than “ginger cookies”- According to wealth of knowledge Magnus Nilsson, black pepper was included in these recipes until a couple of hundred years ago. Today, pepper is no longer called for, and the name has come to mean “gingerbread” even though the root of the word doesn’t really mean “ginger”.
Tools & Equipment for Finnish Gingerbread Cookies
- Small saucepan
- Whisk & wooden spoon
- Large mixing bowl OR stand mixer with paddle attachment
- Sheet pans
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters- see notes below for suggestions!
Ingredients for Finnish Gingerbread Cookies
- Granulated sugar
- Golden syrup– or substitute dark syrup
- Milk
- Unsalted butter, cubed
- Salt– fine sea salt or kosher salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Ground cardamom
- Ground ginger
- Baking soda
- All-purpose flour
The Process: How to Make Finnish Gingerbread Cookies
Mix dough
Whisk together salt, spices, baking soda and flour in a medium bowl & set aside.
Add white sugar, syrup and milk to a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Whisk frequently as you bring the mixture just to a boil. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved, then remove the pan from the heat. Allow it to cool slightly.
Cube the butter then place it in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. While the syrup mixture is still very warm, pour it over the butter then whisk until the butter is all melted, thoroughly incorporated and cooled to roughly room temperature.
Whisk in the dry ingredients mixture, or if using a stand mixer, add the mixture slowly with the mixer running on low speed. This will be a somewhat sticky but relatively stiff dough- if you are mixing it by hand you may want to use your hands to make sure you can fully incorporate the rest of the flour & spice mixture.
Shape your dough into a tight lump or log and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge overnight-up to 48 hours
Roll, cut & bake
You may want to set your dough out at room temperature for a little while before rolling it out, just to get it to a workable texture.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper- set them aside.
Lightly flour a work surface and take a manageable chunk of the dough. Roll dough out on your floured surface. If you want slightly chewy cookies, shoot for about 1/4 inch thickness; if you prefer crispy cookies, roll it even thinner.
Use cookie cutters to cut out cookie dough into your preferred shapes. Some suggestions: a scalloped circle is a personal favorite; pigs are cute and a traditional one often used at Christmas time in Scandinavia; other classic shapes such as Christmas trees, stars and simple hearts work great too.
Place cookies on your prepared baking pans. Bake 4-6 minutes. Avoid overcooking as the edges might burn.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
I have found that this dough can absolutely handle being re-rolled and re-cut once. You can definitely try to do it more than once to minimize waste, but it may dry out with too much rolling out, not to mention all the extra flour it will take on from the counter.
Repeat with the remaining dough- your total number of cookies will depend on the size of your cutters.
These cookies are often served un-iced or with a simple dusting of powdered sugar (icing sugar). Of course, you are more than welcome to get creative with all sorts of fancy icing decorations! Here is a recipe for a simple cookie icing.
Enjoy! Like so many Christmas cookies, these will perfectly accompany a cup of coffee or cocoa throughout the holiday season, or any other time of year, honestly.
Finnish Gingerbread Cookies (Piparkakut)
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g
- 1/3 cup golden syrup or dark syrup 117 g
- 1/2 cup milk 120 mL- I prefer to use whole milk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 113 g/8 Tbsp
- 1 tsp fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 1/2 Tbsp ground cloves 1 1/2 tsp
- 1/2 Tbsp ground cardamom
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
- 1/2 Tbsp baking soda
- 4 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 540 g
Instructions
- Whisk together salt, spices, baking soda and flour in a medium bowl & set aside.
- Add white sugar, syrup and milk to a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Whisk frequently as you bring the mixture just to a boil. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved, then remove the pan from the heat. Allow it to cool slightly.
- Cube the butter then place it in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. While the syrup mixture is still very warm, pour it over the butter then whisk until the butter is all melted, thoroughly incorporated and cooled to roughly room temperature.
- Whisk in the dry ingredients mixture, or if using a stand mixer, add the mixture slowly with the mixer running on low speed. This will be a somewhat sticky but relatively stiff dough- if you are mixing it by hand you may want to use your hands to make sure you can fully incorporate the rest of the flour & spice mixture.
- Shape your dough into a tight lump or log and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge overnight-up to 48 hours.
- When you're ready to continue, you may want to set your dough out at room temperature for a little while before rolling it out, just to get it to a workable texture.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper- set them aside.
- Lightly flour a work surface and take a manageable chunk of the dough. Roll dough out on your floured surface. If you want slightly chewy cookies, shoot for about 1/4 inch thickness; if you prefer crispy cookies, roll it even thinner.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out cookie dough into your preferred shapes.
- Place cookies on your prepared baking pans. Bake 4-6 minutes. Avoid overcooking as the edges might burn.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with the remaining dough- your total number of cookies will depend on the size of your cutters.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Pin for later:
What Should I Make Next?
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments! If you share on Instagram, please tag me at @sisuhomemaker. And I always love to hear from you- send questions, comments, concerns, etc to carol@sisuhomemaker.com!
Leave a Reply