NORWEGIAN CULTURE
Norwegian Gingerbread Cookies are spiced, snappy cookies that make your house smell divine when they bake. They are perfect for kids and adults to decorate and you can shape them into whatever you please – such as a gingerbread house!
Ingredients
Norwegian Gingerbread Cookies
- 250 g butter (1 cup + 2 Tbsp.)
- 250 g powdered sugar (2 cups)
- 125 g light syrup * see link below (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp.) May sub for light molasses
- 100 ml heavy cream (3.4 oz)
- 400 g flour (3 cups + 1 Tbsp.)
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. ground nutmeg (less is also okay, but I love it spiced)
Icing
- 3 egg whites ** reserve egg yolks for eggnog! Link below
- 1 tbsp lemon, juice
- 500 gr powdered sugar 4 cups
Recipe
- Melt butter, light syrup, heavy cream and powdered sugar in a medium saucepan***. Cool this mixture a little before adding in all the other ingredients; flour, baking soda, spices. Mix/knead well before covering and chill overnight.
- Pre-heat oven to 175 C (350 F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out your dough on a floured surface. Roll to 3 mm (0.12 inches) thick and cut out using cookie cutters. If it’s a very sticky dough, you may want to place the dough inside two layers of parchment paper before you roll out. Place the cut out cookies on the parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 175 C (350 F). Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing and cooling them completely on a cooling rack.
- For the icing: Just mix everything together and pour into piping bags to decorate as you please. Too stiff? More lemon juice or water. Too runny? More powdered sugar.
Notes
* You may find light syrup in Scandinavian specialty stores, such as in this link.
** Recipe for Dasher’s Creamy Eggnog
*** If you are going to make a gingerbread house, double the recipe so about half of the dough goes to the house and the other half goes into cookies! Large gingerbread house parts may need to bake an additional minute or two.
Author: Stine Mari from Ginger with Spice