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Brunkager – Ginger Cookies

Posted in Christmas, Cookies, Danish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 22, 2011| 10 Comments »

Brunkager

Here is another Cookie which I grew up with. You can buy a version of this in some grocery store, but why on earth do that, when you can fill your house with an intense aroma of cinnamon, cloves and ginger. The Brunkage cookie is crunchy and crisp and to me it’s filled with childhood Christmas memories from a long, long time ago….well, not that long ago 🙂

I’ve been searching for a Brunkage recipe which uses ingredients that I have relative easy access to. Again, there are numerous different ways to make this cookie. This recipe is really straight forward as far as ingredients go, it is easy and quick to make and the cookies are very flavorful. As far as the syrup goes, I did use a Danish dark syrup (mørk sirup, in Danish). However, I did some inquiring about a substitute syrup and the response I got was that Maple syrup will work just fine. So although I have not tried it myself, it should be no problem using Maple syrup. I hope you enjoy this cookies as much as I do!

Brunkage thickness

Ingredients:

200 grams butter (7 ounces), at room temperature

200 grams sugar (7 ounces)

1 deciliter syrup (0.4 cup) (100 milliliter)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cloves

325 – 350 grams flour (11.4 – 12.3 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking soda

a pinch of salt

100 – 125 grams blanched sliced almonds (3.5 – 4.4 ounces)

Directions:

In the bowl of an stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or electrical mixer add butter and sugar and beat until smooth. Add syrup, ginger, cinnamon and cloves, mix until combined. Holding back a small amount of flour for kneading the dough, add the majority of the flour and all of the baking soda, salt and almonds. Mix until combined, careful not to over-mix. Turn dough out onto working surface and using the remaining flour, knead the dough briefly until smooth.  Divide dough into two equal portions and form  two logs 5 centimeters in thickness. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and place in a zip lock bag. Let dough rest in refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 176 degrees C (350 degrees F) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice dough into approximately 4-5 mm (0.2 inch) thick slices and bake in the middle of oven for 9-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving to cooling rack. Store cookies in a cookie tin with a tight-fitting lid. Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas 🙂

Mørk Sirup

Source: Kirsten HĂĽttemeier via Connie Lauridsen Childs

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12 Days of Christmas – Fedtebrød

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Cookies, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 1, 2010| 15 Comments »

Danish Fedtebrød cookies

Danish Fedtebrød cookies

To me, Christmas time is the best time a year. It is filled with joy, excitement and what the Danes call “Hygge”. Hygge is a cozy, happy and relaxed atmosphere. Live candles are an important part of creating Hygge and Christmas time is filled with candles. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the days leading up to Christmas Eve. Being in the kitchen with my mom and dad baking cookies. Yes you heard me right, my dad always took as much a part of baking and cooking as my mother and they are both excellent in the kitchen. They would bake about 4 or 5 different types of cookies and I would do my best to get in the way to help them. Fedtebrød is one of those cookies which bring me back to Christmas in Denmark. It is a soft coconut cookie with a mild rum glaze on top.

Advent reef

Danish Christmas Tradition: Adventskransen  (Advent Reef)

The Advent Reef is a round reef typically decorated with pine, pine cones, red berries etc and four candles. It is either free standing or hung with ribbons and the colors are typically a red and white combination. The first candle is lit on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, then the first and seconds candle is lit on the third Sunday before Christmas and so on, until all four Candles are lit on the last Sunday before Christmas. I should mention that Christmas is celebrated in Denmark on the Eve of December 24th. The Advent Reef has been a tradition in almost all Danish homes since the 1930’s and it’s a celebration of what is coming at Christmas, that being the Birth of the Jesus Child. Whether you are a religious person or not, it’s a beautiful tradition to make the reef and lighting the candles every Sunday in anticipation of Christmas. It brings a sense of joy, Hygge and excitement into those hectic days.

Fedtebrød Ingredients

Fedtebrød Cookies

Ingredients:

For cookie dough:

125 gram flour (1 cup 2 tablespoons)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

125 gram butter (9 tablespoons) cut into small pieces

65 gram sweetened coconut (3/4 cup loosely packed)

65 gram sugar (5 tablespoon)

For glaze:

100 gram powdered sugar (1 cup)

2 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon rum

1 teaspoon flour

Roll dough into cylinder

Roll dough into a rectangle

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C ( 392 degrees F ) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place flour, baking powder, butter, coconut and sugar in a medium bowl and mix with a hand-held mixer. The mixture will be crumbly. Dust flour on working surface and on your hands. Then press mixture together using your hands until it forms a ball of dough. Divide dough into three balls of dough. Using your hands, form ball of dough into long rolls approx 9 x 1 inch long. Place on floured surface and using your rolling-pin gently roll dough into a 12 x 2 1/2 – 3 inch rectangle. Move the dough (with the help of a spatula) onto prepared baking sheet and using your hands and spatula press dough edges to make a more uniform edge. Repeat with two remaining dough balls.

Bake until golden brown, approx 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 4-5 minutes. While cookies are cooling, mix glaze together. While cookies are still warm, spread the glaze over cookies. Cool for another 4-5 minutes and then cut cookies diagonally. Complete cooling on baking sheet.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Put glaze on while still warm

Cut diagonally

Source: adapted from my Mother’s recipe

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Napoleonshatte – Napoleon Hats

Posted in Danish, Dessert, Pastry, tagged , , , , , , on May 5, 2010| 6 Comments »

Danish Napoleonshat

Danish Napoleonshat

These delicious little Danish cookies are called Napoleon Hats (remember Napoleon Bonaparte, the French dude with the funny hat). Napoleon Hats were some of my favorite cookies growing up, still is. Whenever we go home to visit I always pick up some of these cookies at the local Bakery, along with a lot of other Danish pastries. These cookies are really easy and fun to make, oh and did I mention that they’re delicious.

Napoleonshat dipped in chocolate

Napoleonshat dipped in chocolate

Ingredients:

7 oz Marzipan (Odense)

1 3/4 cup flour

1 stick + 1 tbsp. butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 egg yolk

1/2 stick vanilla bean

5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Directions:

Break up butter into flour and place in a food processor. Pulse to blend. Slice open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add powdered sugar, egg yolk and vanilla seeds to flour mixture. Blend until a smooth powdery mix. Remove mixture from food processor and press it together to form a dough ball. Place dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool. Place dough in between two pieces of cling wrap and roll out to 3 mm thickness. Cut out circles using a glass approximate 2 1/4 inch in size. Roll a small ball of marzipan and place in center of round dough. Lift up dough circle and marzipan ball and gently squeeze edges closed using your thumbs and index fingers to form three points (like a Napoleon Hat). Place on parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet.

Melt 5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate over a water bath. Once cookies are cooled, dip each corner and bottom of cookie in the melted chocolate. Place on baking rack or parchment paper to let chocolate set.

Making Napoleonshat

Making Napoleonshat

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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