1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
stirring to incorporate the butter.
Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Allow to cool for about 5 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, prepare dry ingredients. Begin by freshly grinding 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
I’m sure you all know by now that I’m not a fan of canned black pepper. Canned ground black pepper will over power the spice flavors in this cookie. Try not to use it unless you absolutely have to. The cookie should have a subtle pepper flavor.
Sift 2 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon soda, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cloves.
and 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.
Add 1 egg to the slightly cool sugar mixture.
Add the flour spice mixture.
Beat until smooth.
Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap.
Wrap tightly.
After dough has chilled for several hours, remove from the refrigerator and place on a floured surface.
I think putting a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough helps to roll the dough thin.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 7-8 minutes or until golden and browning on the sides.
Norwegian Pepperkaker
Pepperkaker are traditional Norwegian Christmas cookies that you definitely want to make part of your holiday traditions! These cookies have a lovely crisp snap and just the right amount of sweetness, with lots of festive and delicious gingerbread flavor. They're perfect to share for cookie swaps and are even great to ship as tasty gifts!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dark corn syrup or golden syrup
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoons cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
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In a small saucepan add sugar, corn syrup, butter and vinegar to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl. Set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
-
Mix in egg. Sift together the flour, soda, pepper, ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
-
Once the dough has chilled, roll the dough very thin on a floured surface. Cut into any desired shapes. Bake at 350℉ on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 7-8 minutes. Remove cookies from the baking sheet immediately and allow to cool. Store in airtight tins.
Recipe Notes
Layer the Norwegian Christmas cookies in tins and store in a cool place. Pepperkaker will keep well for up to 3 weeks when kept in an airtight container.
Hi! Are these MEASUREMENTS in european or AMERICAN cups? Can you provide weight or butter? the stick in mexico looks way smaller and its 90gr. Missed theese Cookies from erasmus days and want to recreate
The measurements are in American cups. 1/2 cup of butter = 113.4 grams or 4 ounces (American measurements) I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Dear Janet,
The recipe is perfect!
On the pictures it looks like you use a cloth to roll the dough on and cut the shapes? I was wondering if it is a special cloth and where you could buy such a sheet?
Christmas wishes from the Netherlands!
It is a pastry cloth made of thick muslin fabric with edges that have been serged. I purchased the cloth at a cooking store many years ago. Just dust the cloth with a little flour to prevent pastry or cookie dough from sticking. I love it!
I’ve only made the dough, but by the smell of it, I can tell it’s the same Christmas Cookie I helped to make in my childhood. Thanks for posting the recipe.
I hope you loved the pepperkaker. It’s one of my favorites.
Please let me know how you like Pepperkaker. It’s definitely one of my favorite Christmas treats.
Hi! Im excited to try this recipe. If i choose to make ot wIthout vinegar, do you Recommend me Adding anything To make up for That lack of liquid? Thanks and happy holidays!
I think you could just omit it. If you feel you want to replace the acid, you could use lemon juice as a substitute. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Sorry to respond so late. I’ve mom has been very ill and I’ve had to spend time at the hospital. Have a wonderful holiday season! Happy baking!
Hi Janet. Merry Christmas and a blessed New year to you. What kind of stand mixer to you use. I’ve never seen a beater attachment like the one in the pictures.
Thanks – Liz
Hi Liz, Yes, I have a KitchenAid. The beater attachment you see is a scraper beater. I found it on Amazon. They have a variety of sizes depending on what brand of stand mixer you have. I love the rubber scrapers attached to the beater. However, they do eventually wear out and start to fall off. I had to replace mine after about 5 years of use…hard use.
Tried this recipe twice, and unfortunately, this is just not the move imo. I ended up using a recipe that didn’t use ground pepper and vinegar (although IDK if the vinegar changed much) and it turned out much better and my friend from Norway said those were perfect. I’m sure this recipe works for some people just not me.
I’m sorry you didn’t have success with this recipe. This is the recipe of my childhood from my best friend’s mother who was from Norway. She made it for me every Christmas and passed on her recipe.
Thank you for your comment. I’m glad you found a recipe that you like for gingerbread.
Pepparkakor should have cardamom in them. My recipe is Swedish and very different than yours, but key to all pepparkakor is cardamom. Mine also calls for molasses. They need to be rolled extremely thin. Many don’t do this, but your photo shows you did. Well done!
Thank you Laurie. I love cardamom and will try adding it to my next batch. My dear friend, who is from Norway, gave me her recipe. No mention of the cardamom.
You won need much – 1/4 teaspoon shoukd do it.
I'm so looking forward to making these! I'm wondering about freezing the dough… Have you tried that? Perhaps if I chill the dough, then cut the cookies out and flash freeze? Any suggestions would be appreciated!
I have never frozen the dough, but I think it's a fabulous idea. I even think cutting the dough and freezing would work great too. The cookies freeze great after they have been baked. I'm a fan of freezing everything and anything to help with time. I hope you love the cookies.
It worked! I refrigerated the dough, rolled it out, cut out the cookies, then froze them. I just baked them off now, and while I don't know how they'd be if I hadn't frozen them, they taste and look great! My tree cutter is larger than yours, that with the cookies being frozen, they took about 10 minutes in the oven. Lovely – peppery and crisp!
So my daughter for homework had to make a foreign food (her teacher added they should maybe bring some for him to try too, I'm not sure he gets fed at home lol) When we came across this recipe my initial thought was "at least we have all the ingredients". We got almost 100 out of the batch of dough (enough for the whole school if she wanted as she attends a small village school) Sadly they are too nice to share so she's just taking enough for her class and the remaining 80 are going into our bellies ๐ Life's hard lol These will definitely be made in our house again in the run up to Yuletide. My great grandma was Norwegian but she died many years ago so I don't remember if she ever made these but I am so glad we found your recipe. Many thanks!
I think I'd rather have them in my belly too. I'm so happy you like the cookies and now you have an authentic Norwegian recipe. Thanks for sharing this fun story.
Hi Janet, thanks for the recipe. I'm not a very experienced baker, and my dough wound up really sticky. It had chilled doe about 5 hours. Couldn't have been not quite chilled enough, or should I add some extra flour…?
Oh no. That's not good. You can try refrigerating overnight. If the dough is still too sticky, you made need to add an additional 2 tablespoons flour. I hope this helps
I can attest to how good these little cookies are, and how adorable, too! Thanks for sharing them, Janet – I brought them into the office, and everyone loved them!
Hey Janet, love your blog! Is this a true Norwegian recipe? The reason I ask is that my husbands family do a Christmas theme each year, blue jean, cowboy, mickey mouse, etc. You get the idea, and this year because they do in fact have Norwegian ancestry they are doing a Norwegian Christmas, and I would love to bring something that is Norwegian.
It is authentic. They make them in Sweden as well. My best friends mom was Norwegian and she would make these along with the Berlinerkranser and Almond tartletts, both recipes are on my blog. Look in the recipe search or recipe index. Berlinerkranser are really easy and my favorite. I think your themed Christmas idea is awesome.
Great, now I want to make them both! I hope the actual relatives from Norway will be nicely surprised…I hope.