pepparkakor - swedish ginger thins

If you've ever stepped into a supermarket in Sweden (the food section in your local Ikea will provide the next best alternative, albeit possibly with equine occupation) you may know about pepparkakor. 

If the name doesn't ring a bell, the description may - very thin and very crisp dark spiced biscuits, also known as ginger thins or ginger snaps. I picked up a couple of boxes when visiting Stockholm over Easter, one for home and one to take to work for colleagues. Turns out I ate most of both boxes as it's almost impossible to dull the come hither tones of their unique texture and mildly fiery flavour. 

They're not like any other biscuit I've encountered - incredibly light and completely void of moisture lending to their unmistakable crispness. And those who did get a chance to dip in a paw before I managed to scoff the contents of both boxes thoroughly enjoyed them for the same reasons.

Short of having to drive to Ikea in Croydon every time I wish to replenish the stock (which has long since dwindled to a painful pepparkakor void), I soon realised the only solution would be to find a recipe and make them (regularly) myself. 

After quite a bit of research, it turns out achieving the signature snap is a challenge. There are online stories of bakers making dozens of batches with varying degrees of ingredients, still unable to claim victory over the elusive and unique texture. Suggestions involve excluding any fat whatsoever in order to remove all moisture. Others say bake for longer at a lower temperature. Further advice speaks of using very strong and unfamiliar raising agents for the tough dough.

Well, I found a recipe and a process that read right to me. I tried it, and I nailed it first time. If you want to achieve the same texture and flavour as those boxed Swedish thins, use this recipe.

This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated Magazine (November 2011) and is an absolute corker. It is also incredibly quick and easy to make the dough - the majority of your time will be spent rolling and cutting out the individual biscuits. 

The recipe suggests this makes about 80 biscuits but I've ended up with double - I suspect I've rolled the dough half as thin as the recipe has. So  if you do in fact want 80, I would half the below ingredients. Or you'll end up with 160 biscuits filling up two large Tupperware boxes. Not a bad situation to be in, in my opinion. Keep them airtight and they'll last you for as long as two people with an average biscuit intake would need to eat them.

Pepparkakor

Makes 80 (or around 160 very thin ones as in the pictures)
2 1/2 cups plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

170g unsalted butter

4 tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp pepper

Pinch cayenne

1 1/4 cups packed dark brown soft sugar

1/4 cup molasses or black treacle

1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in bowl. In the meantime, heat the butter in a pan over a medium heat until melted. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, swirling the pan frequently, until the foaming subsides and the butter is just beginning to brown. Turn off the heat.

Whisk in all the spices and then add the brown sugar and molasses to the butter mixture and whisk to combine until the sugar has melted and you have a smooth mixture. Add the egg and yolk and mix again with the whisk to combine. You should have a dark, sticky, smooth and glossy mixture.

Pour this mixture into your bowl of flour and combine with a spatula until you have a dough - don't over work it. Cover the bowl with cling film and keep in the fridge for the butter to firm, at least an hour.

Adjust your oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 130C (fan). Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper or silicone paper. Break off a portion of the dough and with your hands mound into a round and squash down. Take a rolling pin and slowly roll it out - if the edges are dry and crack, smooth them out with your fingers and continue rolling slowly. If any of the dough sticks to your rolling pin, just reverse the roll to remove it and join it back to the main mass. 

Roll them about as thin as 1mm - don't worry, they do rise a little in the oven. Use a small cookie cutter to cut out your shapes. Carefully lift each biscuit and place on your baking trays - leave a slight gap between each as they do expand slightly. You will fit about twenty per baking tray. Gather up the remaining dough and join with the rest of the mass. Break off another portion and repeat the process until all your dough is used up.

Place one tray on the upper rack and while it's baking, roll out and fill up your next tray. After 15 minutes or so, transfer the partially baked top tray to the lower rack and rotate 180 degrees. Place your second tray of biscuits on the upper rack. When your first tray is done, remove from the oven and transfer each biscuit to a cooling rack. Bring the top tray down to the bottom shelf, and continue this rotation until you've cooked all your biscuits. The biscuits are done when they are hard to touch and just darkening around the edges - around 15-20 minutes.

Tip The dough can be refrigerated for up to two days or frozen for up to one month if you want to get ahead. Let the dough stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping. Let frozen dough thaw overnight before proceeding with the recipe. 

Settle down on a comfy arm chair in the evening with half a dozen thins, a glass of cold milk and a good read. I'm sold. 

Afiyet olsun.