Danish Christmas Cookies: Pebernødder

One of my most favorite traditional Danish Christmas desserts is Pebernødder. Instead of being eaten at the end of the meal, Pebernødder are Danish Christmas cookies that are enjoyed any time of day, but one thing is for sure. They don’t last long!

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Are you looking for a great Scandinavian Christmas baking recipe? Keep reading!

(Dansk opskrift på bunden)

Our History with Pebernødder

The word for daycare in Denmark is called “børnehave”. This was where my boys went when we first moved to Denmark, and on my youngest son’s last day of “børnehave”, he was given a handmade, recipe book of all the great Danish foods that he had enjoyed eating and making during his time there. We put this recipe book into the cupboard for safe keeping, and we didn’t look at it again until I decided to see if it had any recipes for Danish Christmas foods. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a hand-written recipe for Pebernødder.

Finding Maria’s Pebernødder Recipe

The recipe was called “Maria’s Pebernødder”. I wasn’t quite sure who Maria was, but I could tell that writing recipes was not her day job, since the recipe only consisted of a list of ingredients and one instruction: mix together. I was pretty sure there was more information needed in order to make Pebernødder, but since both of my children (and husband) had made these Danish Christmas treats before, I thought that I would just rely on their knowledge and wing it.

After all, how bad could it be?

Do you want to see us in action? Check out our video from when we made Danish Pebernødder for the first time HERE!

Danish Cookies: Pebernødder

If you translate the Danish word “Pebernødder” into English, you get something like “pepper nuts”. That just doesn’t sound right when you think of how they really taste. To me, they are much like a very small, sugar cookie that has much more spices in it. In fact, I don’t think I have every tasted anything quite like them in my 38 years of living in the USA. Even when you look for an authentic Pebernødder recipe online, you get many different versions of what people think Pebernødder are, but they are completely wrong.

Those don’t look at all like Danish Pebernødder cookies, so I am here to set the story straight and offer a recipe that was made by Danes but can be loved by all.

Here is the recipe that was given to my son, but the instructions are what I had to learn from the experience of the three Danes in my house. I hope you enjoy sharing in this Scandinavian Christmas tradition and make these Danish Christmas cookies for your Christmas in Denmark or anywhere else around the world! 😊

Danish Pebernødder Recipe (Dansk opskrift er på bunden.)

INGREDIENTS

4 1/1 sticks of butter (2 1/2c)

2c sugar

2TBS syrup

2 eggs

2tsp cardamom

2tsp cinnamon

2tsp baking soda

6 3/4c flour

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 380 F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter, sugar and syrup together with a medium speed until well-blended.
3. In another large bowl, add the eggs, cardamom, cinnamon, baking soda and flour. Mix well.
4. Slowly add the flour mix to the butter mixture and blend well with an electric mixer.
5. With a rubber spatula, scoop out the dough onto a floured surface. The dough should not be sticky. If it is, you may not have added enough flour. (This is where I messed up, so make sure to check this.)
6. Divide the dough into smaller sections. You will want to hand roll it to look like a long worm that is about half an inch to an inch in thickness.
7. With a knife, cut the long strip into half-inch pieces. You will then roll these small pieces into balls and place them on a lined cookie sheet.
8. Placed the cookie sheet in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

There is a lot of dough, so be prepared either to use lots of cookie sheets or to be in the kitchen for a while. You can cut the recipe in half if you don’t want to make so many. This will still leave you with a good amount. If you have kids, these won’t last long. My boys ate them like popcorn! They are that good! 😊

Learn how to make a traditional, Danish, layered, strawberry cake HERE! (på Dansk + in English)

Dansk Pebernødder Opskrift

INGREDIENSER

500g smør

400g sucker

2 SPSK. Sirup

2æg

2 tsk. Kardemomme

2 tsk. Kanel

2 tsk. Natron

850g mel

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INSTRUKTIONER

1. Forvarm ovnen til 200 C.
2. I en stor skål kommes smør, sukker og sirup sammen med medium hastighed, indtil det er godt blandet.
3. Tilsæt æg, kardemomme, kanel, bagepulver og mel i en anden stor skål. Bland godt.
4. Tilsæt langsomt melblandingen til smørblandingen og bland godt med en elektrisk mixer.
5. Skru dejen ud på en melet overflade med en gummispatel. Dejen skal ikke være klæbrig. Hvis det er tilfældet, har du muligvis ikke tilsat nok mel. (Dette er hvor jeg kiksede, så sørg for at kontrollere dette.)
6. Del dejen i mindre sektioner. Du ønsker at håndrulle dejen, så den ligner en lang orm på en halv til en hel tomme i tykkelse.
7. Skær den lange strimmel i en halv tomme stykker med en kniv. Derefter ruller du disse små stykker i bolde og placerer dem på et foret bradeplade.
8. Anbring bradeplade i den forvarmede ovn i 8 til 10 minutter.

Der er meget dej, så vær forberedt på at bruge masser af bradeplader eller at være i køkkenet i et stykke tid. Du kan skære opskriften i to, hvis du ikke vil lave så mange. Dette giver dig stadig et godt antal. Hvis du har børn, varer disse ikke længe. Mine drenge spiste dem som popcorn! De er så gode! 😊

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