PEPPERKAKER RECIPE

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So I wasn't actually planning on starting my Christmas baking until next weekend. I mean, it's still November, and I like to hold off on the Christmas stuff until at least December. But then, you kinda have to start early if you want everything to be finished in time, and I've already started a few Christmas projects on the sly anyway. So with that logic, I started my Christmas baking this weekend with a batch of gingerbread, or pepperkaker in Norwegian.

Historically in Norway, the tradition is to bake seven kinds of cookies for Christmas to have ready for visitors. I doubt I'll actually end up baking seven kinds, but mainly because I'm pretty sure I'd end up with way more cookies than necessary and I'd probably end up eating them all myself, which is not as good of an idea as it might sound. I do however plan on also making kakemen and krumkaker, and I might even try to make some smultringer. We'll see what I end up having time to make!

This is my favorite gingerbread recipe. It calls for leaving the dough over night, so I like to prepare the dough before I go to bed, and then do my stamping and baking the next day. It'll give you a good sized batch, though if you're planning on making a gingerbread house as well then you might need to double up. Last year I only ended up with about 20 cookies after making my house, and that might sound like enough, but it was less than half a jar of cookies which pretty much all myseriously disappeared after I had my brother over for a visit. Gingerbread is pretty popular in my family, so another batch was an absolute necessity. 

Pepperkake (gingerbread) recipe:

2 eggs
350 g butter

350 g sugar

200 ml golden syrup

2 tablespoons ground clove

2 tablespoons ground ginger

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons baking soda

700 g flour

Directions: Melt butter, sugar, syrup and the spices in a medium pan. Stir continuously, and take it off once it starts to boil. It'll smell amazing but I don't recommend dipping your finger in to taste as it'll be very hot! Leave it in the fridge to cool for about an hour. Once it's cool, mix in the eggs, and then the flour using a mixer. Once it's all incorporated, put the dough in a cold place and leave it over night.

The next day, roll the dough out on a floured surface, and stamp out your cookies. I like to roll them out so they're about half a cm thick so they don't end up being too thin and crispy. Bake at 150 degrees Celsius on the middle shelf, for about 7 minutes until the cookies start to brown. Decorate with icing if you wish, or just dig in! Try not to finish them before Christmas, though.