Gingerbread Dough Pepparkakor Food

TRADITIONAL SWEDISH PEPPARKAKOR

Steps:

• Sift the flour together with the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom in a mixing bowl.
• Beat the butter together with the white and brown sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and corn syrup until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until evenly blended. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and wrap tightly each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
• Using 1 portion at a time, work on a floured surface and roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutter, and place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven until set, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered tins.

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.

PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES)

Steps:

• Heat molasses in small saucepan to boiling point.
• Boil 1 minute.
• Add sugar and butter and stir until butter is melted.
• Cool.
• Beat in egg.
• Sift together flour, salt, soda and spices.
• Add to first mixture and mix thoroughly.
• Cover bowl tightly and chill overnight.
• Roll out a portion of the dough at a time on lightly floured pastry cloth.
• Roll out thin.
• Cut into desired shapes.
• Bake in a moderate oven (350F) 6 to 8 minutes.
• The dough may be shaped into a roll and wrapped in waxed paper.
• Chill thoroughly overnight or longer.
• Slice thin and bake in moderate oven (350F).
• These should be stored in an air-tight container - allow flavor to "ripen".

TRADITIONAL PEPPARKAKOR (SWEDISH SPICE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Sift together dry ingredients; set aside.
• Cream sugar and butter.
• Add egg and molasses.
• Blend in dry ingredients thoroughly. Let dough stand overnight for easy rolling.
• On a well-floured board, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Cut into shapes (we usually make gingerbread people) and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
• NOTE: Prep time does not include time to let dough rest overnight.

GINGERBREAD DOUGH / PEPPARKAKOR

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together until the mixture is smooth. Blend in the flour and cream to make a stiff dough. Chill at least 30 minutes or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 to 1/16-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. (The thinner you roll the dough, the crispier the cookies will be). Place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned. Slide cookies and parchment off the baking sheet onto the countertop to cool. Dip cooled cookies into melted white chocolate to decorate, or decorate with Royal Icing.
• Mix all of the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer, until the icing is smooth and thin enough to be pressed through a pastry bag with a writing tip. Add more lemon juice, if necessary.
• Gingerbread House/Box: Cut paper patterns for the gingerbread house: Five rectangles, 3 by 5 inches, to make the floor, walls and roof of the house, and two pieces for the ends of the house, 3 inches wide at the base, 3 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 5 1/2 inches from the bottom. Roll gingerbread dough out to edges on a large, rimless cookie sheet. Place paper patterns onto the rolled out dough. With a sharp, straight edged knife, cut around each of the pieces, but leave pieces in place.
• Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes until dough feels firm.
• Place patterns on top of the gingerbread again and trim shapes, cutting edges with a straight-edged sharp knife. Leave to cool on baking sheet.
• Place royal icing into pastry bag with a writing tip and press out to decorate individual parts of house, piping on decorations, windows, door, etc., as desired. Let dry until hardened.
• Glue sides of house to base and at corners using royal icing. Place an object against the pieces to prop up until icing is dry (it only takes a few minutes).
• Glue two pieces together to make the roof of the house, but do not attach roof to the house. (Fill house with cookies, then place roof on top).
• Yield: One recipe of dough makes one house

GINGERBREAD DOUGH

Steps:

• Whisk all the dry ingredients together thoroughly and set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of a mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the eggs, molasses, and water and beat until well combined.
• Beat half of the flour mixture into the mixer until blended and smooth. Add the remaining flour mixture and then knead the dough until firm and manageable, but not dry. Add more flour if the dough is wet.
• Place the dough in a sealable container or zip-top bag in a cool place for up to 2 hours. If you make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it, bring to room temperature before working the dough.
• When ready to roll out the dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your cookie sheets with nonstick spray.
• Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes, working in small batches and keeping the remaining dough in an airtight container so that it does not dry out. Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. The gingerbread will be light brown when it is done. Let cool before icing.
• Combine egg white and powdered sugar in a microwaveable bowl and microwave until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F. The best way to do this is to microwave the mixture on high power, stopping every 20 seconds to take the temperature; it will take about 2 minutes and 40 seconds, but cook time will vary based on microwaves. Make sure to use clean utensils each time you check the icing. The other option is to microwave the mixture for 45 seconds on high, but the consistency will not be as good.
• Beat on high speed until the icing cools and holds a stiff peak, about 2 minutes. If the icing needs to be thicker, add up to 2/3 cup more sugar; you will probably need to add about 1/3 cup more sugar. Food coloring can be added, if desired. Work with the icing in small amounts, keeping the remaining icing in an airtight container, as it will dry quickly.
• Beat all ingredients together in the bowl of a mixer until stiff peaks form. Food coloring can be added, if desired. Work with the icing in small amounts, keeping the remaining icing in an airtight container, as it will dry quickly. The icing can be re-beaten if necessary.

PEPPARKAKA (NORDIC GINGERBREAD) DOUGH

Steps:

• 1. Bring the butter, molasses, sugar and the dried and powdered spices into a boil in a kettle. 2. Keep boiling the mix on a low heat for a few minutes, allowing it to caramelize slightly but not too long. If it keeps boiling too long then the result may be a dough that's difficult to handle with pieces of hard candy. 3. Cool the mixture down in a cold water bath (for example). Remember to mix it from the edges to the center so the temperature goes down evenly. 4. When the mix is still warm but slightly cooled down (around 60-70°C), add the egg and mix well.
• 1. Mix the flour and baking soda together. 2. Gradually add the flour mix into the caramel, knead them in if necessary. 3. Once the dough has cooled to a room temperature then put it into the fridge and let it settle there overnight. The dough will get a somewhat waxy texture. It can also be frozen.
• Baking the dough: 1. Heat the oven to 200°C. 2. Dust a work surface with some flour, especially the center. 3. Use a rolling pin to make a thin sheet our of the dough and use either cookie cutters or self made patterns to cut shapes out of it. 4. The dough "breathes" in the oven. The cookies first rise and then resettle as flat which will only take a few minutes. They have browned slightly once they're done. If you're making a gingerbread house for instance and want some round walls then press the still hot walls against a bottle and allow them to cool down on it.
• Decoration: Decorate the cookies as desired once they have cooled down, using royal icing, sprinkles, candies etc. However, notice that the cookies absorb the moisture easily so give them time to dry. If you pipe dots of the royal icing on the roof eaves of a gingerbread house and then quickly pull it off, you'll easily create "icicles".