Here is my slightly modified recipe for Finnish Piparkakut – Ginger Cookies. Now that I am retired, I have a bit more time to try out new recipes. I always wanted to do more Finnish baking since my background is Finnish on all sides of my family. I think they turned out pretty well and although my decoration skills are not the greatest, they taste great! If you understand Finnish culture, you will know that my determination (sisu) makes sure that I get this recipe correct!
This recipe is based on the famous recipe by Beatrice Ojakangas, with a very slight modification. I used half and half molasses and golden syrup. Also, the first time I tried this recipe, I only had dried ginger. But the second time, I used fresh ginger. Both tasted great!
Ingredients:
Caution: Please check the ingredients for any allergies / food sensitivities, before trying this recipe.
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup corn syrup
½ cup brown sugar demerara
½ cup butter softened
½ cup cream
1 T fresh ginger finely chopped
1 T cinnamon
3 ½ cups white flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Instructions:
Measure out ingredients
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir
Combine molasses, syrup, brown sugar and butter and beat until smooth
Add cream and ginger and stir.
Add dry mixture to wet and beat /mix to form dough. Dough will be very tough to mix.
Keep mixing as best can with electric mixer then finish by hand until well combined.
Bring together in ball so edges don’t dry out.
Cover and Chill overnight or for several hours. I just put in fridge covered with saran wrap.
After Chilling:
Divide in 4 or 6 portions and roll out to a thin layer / desired thickness. I used parchment paper on bottom and initially on the top to get it going. Then just used the rolling pin with a little flour on it. It is quick tough to roll, but easier with the parchment paper.
Roll out to a thin layer ¼ inch thick, thinner for even crispier cookies.
Press with your favorite cookie cutters.
Transfer to lined baking dish and cook at 375 degrees for 9 minutes.
Repeat rolling out and baking cookies until all dough is used. I was able to reuse edges and re-roll out. Cookies were still soft after baking.
Cool and decorate with Royal Icing and serve! Or just sprinklle with icing sugar (e.g. shake through a gravy hand strainer).
Recipe Card for Finnish Piparkakut Ginger Cookies
Here is the recipe card. To print, just right click on recipe card image, select Open image in New Tab, then go to your new tab in your browser and select Print from your menu. This should print the card in 4X6 format.
I am pretty happy with how these turned out, especially for my first time!
Christmas 2021:
I just made these Finnish Piparkakut (Ginger Cookies) again for this Christmas and they turned out so lovely, again using half and half molasses and golden syrup. Here is the result:
If you like this recipe for Finnish Piparkakut Ginger Cookies, please feel free to leave a comment below. Also, you might like other recipes from the main recipe menu pulldown. For example, my Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto) Recipe.
🙂 Bonnie