These Swedish Gingersnaps (Pepparkakor) are thin, crunchy and full of warm holiday spices, including cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper.
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This recipe is adapted from SwedishFood.com. I like to add vanilla and salt where there isn’t any, so those are two upgrades I made, along with the addition of ground black pepper.
These were inspired by a decorative tin of store-bought Pepparkakor that was brought into the office break room back when I worked an office job. They were so perfectly crispy/crunchy that I have kept the idea of recreating them in the back of my head for a long time. Sometimes you want a soft cookie, like my Lemon Meltaway Cookies or Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies, and sometimes you just want a crispy cookie like these.
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Ingredients
Five warm holiday spices come together to create flavor-depth in these crunchy gingersnaps.
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar
- molasses
- light corn syrup
- cardamom
- ground ginger
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
- ground black pepper
- baking soda
- kosher salt
- water (not pictured)
- vanilla (not pictured)
- all-purpose flour
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here’s how to make pepparkakor:
Warm together the wet ingredients. Mix in spices, baking soda, water and vanilla.
Sift in the flour and mix well. Refrigerate dough overnight.
Roll out dough thin (about ⅛-inch thick). Punch or cut shapes.
Freeze solid on prepared sheets before baking for 5-8 minutes at 400F.
Good to know: Gingersnaps taste great dipped in milk. Pair with your favorite dairy or dairy-free milk!
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Variations and substitutions
Here’s how to customize these gingersnaps to your liking:
- Dairy-free — use dairy-free butter in place of the unsalted butter
- Icing — top with royal icing, if desired
- Less spices — use ½ teaspoon or so less of each spice
- No light corn syrup — replace with molasses or dark corn syrup
Do you have any other variation suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
Equipment
I used a French rolling pin to roll out the dough thin, but you can also use a standard rolling pin or a wine bottle in a pinch.
I punched out the cookies with a mini gingerbread man cutter, but you can use any shape cutter or hand cut the cookies.
I like to use glass bowls with lids to store the dough. Especially since it stores for so long, you want an airtight seal.
Storage
Store unbaked dough in the refrigerator for one week. Store unbaked dough wrapped in plastic in an airtight container in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
Top tip
These bake very quickly, so do not leave them too long. Do not underbake though as they need to bake fully to crisp up when cooled.
Lastly, if you make these Swedish Pepparkakor (Gingersnaps) be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating. I love to see when people make my recipes, so please tag me @youthsweets on Instagram if you post!
📖 Recipe
Swedish Pepparkakor (Gingersnaps)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ sticks unsalted butter (150g)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (170g)
- ¼ cup brown sugar (60g)
- 2½ tablespoon molasses (50g)
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (20g)
- ½ tablespoon cardamom pods shelled and seeds ground finely
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoon warm water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (450g)
Instructions
Do ahead (important)
- The dough needs to rest overnight, but even longer than that (one week, if possible) is best.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Make the dough
- Place the butter, sugars, molasses and corn syrup in a large saucepan. Stir over low until the butter melts.
- Remove from heat and stir in the ground cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper. Mix thoroughly.
- Add the baking soda and salt and stir through.
- Add the water and vanilla and stir until combined. Pour mixture into a heatproof bowl.
- Sift the flour in and stir thoroughly until no flour streaks remain. Cover with plastic or a lid and rest in the refrigerator overnight and up to a week.
Roll and cut
- Remove a chunk of dough from the bowl. Knead it with your hands to warm it up and shape into a ball.
- Place on a floured surface and roll it out thin (about an ⅛-inch thick). Cut into shapes or use a cookie-cutter. Place on lined baking sheets. Place the baking sheets with dough into the freezer for at least 10 minutes to freeze solid before baking so they do not lose their shape.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Bake chilled dough for 5-8 minutes until golden brown. These bake very quickly, so do not leave them too long. Do not underbake though as they need to bake fully to crisp up when cooled.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before storing.
