Swedish Christmas Cookies Recipes

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Mix ingredients.
• Roll into small balls; dip into sugar. Press 1/2 candied cherry into top.
• Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes.

SWEDISH BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add syrup. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Divide dough into eight portions. Roll each portion into a 9-in. log. Place 3 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into 1-in. slices. Remove to wire racks. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

SWEDISH SPICE COOKIES (MUSKOTSNITTAR)

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add flour mixture and beat to combine. Divide dough evenly into quarters.
• Roll each quarter into a 14-inch-long rope. Transfer ropes to parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced 6 inches apart (two ropes per sheet). Flatten ropes to 2 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using the back of the tines of a fork, make crosswise lines across the surface of each flattened portion of dough. Bake, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edges and dry on top, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks; let cool 5 minutes. While still warm, cut on the diagonal into 1-inch-thick slices. Let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
• In a small saucepan over moderate heat, warm the corn syrup and orange zest. Add the butter and sugar and continue warming, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Add the egg and whisk to combine. Pour over the flour mixture and stir to combine. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap, and chill overnight.
• Arrange racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with nonstick baking mats, such as Silpats, or parchment paper.
• Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out a portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4 inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into desired shapes, such as circles, stars, hearts, bells, gingerbread men, and Christmas trees. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets and sprinkle with the pearl sugar. Bake, switching the cookies between the upper and lower racks and rotating the baking sheets about halfway through baking, until the edges are just beginning to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Watch the cookies carefully to make sure they don't get too brown.
• Let the cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to let cool completely. Continue rolling and cutting out the rest of the cookie dough and baking the cookies on cooled baking sheets. DO AHEAD: Pepparkakor can be baked ahead and kept, stored between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks, or frozen up to 1 month.

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in egg yolks and almond extract.
• Add salt. Sift in 2-1/2 cups flour. Mix. Add just enough additional flour to make a pliable dough. (Or see variation in description above.) Chill for 30 minutes.
• To shape, divide dough into 6 equal portions. Roll out each to make a rope about 24 inches long.
• Cut dough into 2-inch strips. Place on cookie sheets. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with almonds and remaining sugar.
• Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes until cookies feel firm and are lightly browned around the edges. Let cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool completely.

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, cardamom, and salt in a bowl.
• Put the butter and confectioners' sugar in a food processor, and process until smooth. Pulse in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined. Add the flour mixture and process to make a soft buttery dough. Divide the dough in half onto 2 (12-inch long) sheets of plastic wrap. Using the plastic, shape into rough logs. Refrigerate the dough logs for 30 minutes until just firm enough to shape into uniform logs, 8-inches long by 2-inches in diameter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Scatter either the sanding sugars or toasted nuts on a work surface and roll the logs until completely coated. Cut into 1/4-inch thick cookies and space about 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cookies on the pan on wire racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, cardamom, and salt in a bowl.
• Put the butter and confectioners' sugar in a food processor, and process until smooth. Pulse in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined. Add the flour mixture and process to make a soft buttery dough. Divide dough in half onto 2 (12-inch long) sheets of plastic wrap, using the plastic, shape into rough logs. Refrigerate the dough logs for 30 minutes until just firm enough to shape into uniform logs, 8-inches long by 2-inches in diameter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325ºF.
• Scatter either the sanding sugars or toasted nuts on a work surface and roll the logs until completely coated. Cut into 1/4-inch thick cookies and space about 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden around the edges, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cookies on the pan on wire racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

SWEDISH DREAM COOKIES (DROMMAR)

Steps:

• Sift together flour and salt.
• Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in ammonium carbonate and almond extract until combined well. Mix in flour mixture at low speed just until blended, then stir in coconut. Form dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• Roll dough into 1-inch balls and arrange 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.
• Bake cookies in batches in upper third of oven until pale golden around edges, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, cardamom, and salt in a bowl.
• Put the butter and confectioners' sugar in a food processor, and process until smooth.
• Pulse in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined. Add the flour mixture and process to make a soft buttery dough.
• Divide dough in half onto 2 (12-inch long) sheets of plastic wrap, using the plastic, shape into rough logs.
• Refrigerate the dough logs for 30 minutes until just firm enough to shape into uniform logs, 8-inches long by 2-inches in diameter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Scatter either the sanding sugars or toasted nuts on a work surface and roll the logs until completely coated.
• Cut into 1/4-inch thick cookies and space about 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Bake until golden around the edges, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cookies on the pan on wire racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

SWEDISH "S" COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg, flour and salt. Stir well to combine. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a cookie press with the star design, press dough onto the sheet in an "s" shape about 1 1/2 inches long. Repeat, placing cookies 2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are barely golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips. Dip one end of each cookie into the chocolate and then into the ground pecans. Return to the rack to dry. Cookies can be frozen in an airtight container, with wax paper between each layer for up to 6 months. Defrost 30 minutes before serving.

SWEDISH GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. In another bowl, whisk flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-1/2-in. gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake until edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, shortening, vanilla and enough water to reach spreading consistency. Decorate cookies with frosting and, if desired, Red Hots. , Freeze option: Transfer wrapped disks to a resealable plastic freezer bag; freeze. To use, thaw dough in refrigerator overnight or until soft enough to roll. Prepare, bake and decorate cookies as directed.