Swedish Ginger Snaps
Pepparkakor

The magic aroma of freshly baked ginger snaps automatically takes me to the day just before Christmas. One can also enjoy these flavorful rolled cookies any time. This recipe is a Swedish version and very easy to follow.

A brief explanation of the snappy characteristic of these homemade cookies is available in Smart Cookies #015.

Ingredients

All purpose flour	3½ cups
Baking soda	1 tsp
Unsalted butter, softened	½ cup or 1 stick
Granulated sugar	½ cup
Ground cinnamon	1½ tsp
Ground ginger	1½ tsp
Ground cloves	1 tsp
Ground cardamom	¼ tsp
Egg	1 large
Unsulfured molasses	¾ cup
Orange zest, finely grated	2 tsp

Directions

Sift flour and baking soda together, then set it aside.
In another bowl, cream softened butter using an electric mixer on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and continue creaming until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Mix in cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cardamom. Then add egg, molasses, orange zest and blend them all well.
Gradually fold in the flour mixture, one-third at a time. I like to do this step by hand to avoid overwork the dough.
Divide dough into 3 or 4 small pieces, shape them into disks, wrap them carefully in plastic wrap, and refrigerate them overnight to allow maximum flavors to develop.
When you are ready to bake ginger snaps, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk at a time to about 1/8-inch in thickness. They must be this thin for you to get the quality “snap” in these pepparkakor.
Bake for about 5 or 6 minutes or until cookies are dry and light golden brown on bottom. You should be able to lift these flavorful ginger snaps from parchment paper without losing any part of the cookies. Leave them on cookie sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.