No 39 - Swedish Christmas Biscuits

About 10 years ago (om ti år siden) I lived in Denmark.  I like the tradition of having the Xmas celebration at night on 24th - we had already started doing that with friends when we lived in London.  In the dark it somehow seems much brighter and more celebratory.  The day-time version does drag on doesn't it...?      Long after I would like to go for a bike ride, or a walk, or just get outdoors.  You never want to go back outdoors after dark.

Anyway another of the Scandinavian Jule traditions I adopted came  from their range of baked goods.  I still make Christmas Cake (that's from my NZ background), and Christmas Puddings (that's for my UK life), and now I also make Peberkager as well.  The only difference is that not having any kids I don't make them big, and decorated with icing to hang on the tree.  This year however I did make a batch for a friend with 2 children and she reckoned her kids (all three of them she said - referring I suspect to her husband, who is a prodigous baker himself) would enjoy the process of icing them and hanging them up.

Swedish Ginger Christmas Biscuits

140 g butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup treacle

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

icing to decorate

thin ribbon to hang them up

Melt the butter, sugar, treacle and spices in a saucepan over a low heat.  Cool

Stir in the egggs and vanilla.  Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder and make sure it is well mixed.  Divide the dough into 3, wrap each portion in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge for at least two hours.

Heat the oven to 180 degrees C (170 for fan ovens).  Line some baking trays with non-stick paper.  Roll out a portion to about 4 mm thick, cut out shapes and put them on the trays.

Use a piping nozzle to make a hole in the top of each one.  Bake for 5-10 minutes.  They should be firm but they will only be crisp once they have cooled completely.  Cool them on a rack.  Repeat with all the dough portions.

Decorate, thread with ribbon and hang them on your Christmas Tree.