Pepparkakor

My Christmas memories have always included my mother's "Pepparkakor" also known as gingerbread cookies. I loved after she has made a batch to bake the next day and put the dough in the refrigerator for the night and we would all sneak into the bowl to eat as much dough as we could without getting caught. I don't remember ever getting in trouble though... I'm sure that is because the whole family would dig into that bowl several times. Now I am continuing the tradition with my own family. Here is a yummy Swedish treat that your whole family will love!

Note: 1 deciliter = .43 us cups (about 1/2 cup)

Pepparkador

3 dl. Sugar

1 1/2 deciliter Swedish syrup (Swedish Light Syrup is made from beet sugar, with some salt added..There are two kinds, light "ljus sirap", which is used as a topping and in cooking, and dark "mörk sirap ", which is used as an ingredient in cooking. For the light, you can substitute light corn syrup, or golden syrup.) You can find this syrup at IKEA.

200 grams butter (14 tablespoons) Butter

1 1/2 dl. Whipping Cream

1 tablespoon Ground Ginger

1 tablespoon Cinnamon

1/2 tablespoon Ground Cloves

1 tablespoon Baking Soda

Approx. 1.2 liters Flour (1 liter = 4.25 cups) I use 6 cups

1. Warm sugar, syrup and butter in a saucepan until melted. Pour this mixture into a bowl and let cool some.

2. Add whipping cream and spices and mix.

3. mix the baking soda together with some of the flour then add to mixture. Add the rest of the flour except for a little to use for rolling out the cookies.

4. Let the cookie dough rest overnight in the fridge.

5. Roll out the cookie dough very thin on a floured baking board, use cookie cutters of desired shapes.

6. Bake cookies on parchment paper covered cookie sheets in a 400 deg. over for approx. 5 minutes.

7. Let cookies cool some before transferring from cookie sheet.

8. Enjoy with a glass of milk or coffee