Welcome to My Danish Christmas Advent
Calendar! Join me every day in opening a new door. I’ve got
a host of goodies to share with you – traditional Danish Christmas recipes,
traditions, songs, games, decorations, crafts and landscapes… So sit back,
relax and enjoy!
10 DECEMBER
Okay, it’s time to get your pinnies back on – we’re baking again!
Today we’re making pebernødder – ‘pepper nuts’. Small, spicy,
crunchy biscuits that are a) good to eat and b) an essential ingredient in a
Danish Christmas game. But more on that another day!
Pebernødder – ready for sharing!
You can – selvfølgelig – buy pebernødder in any
supermarket. But this year we decided to try making them ourselves…
All ready to make pebernødder!
First of all you’ll need:
- one egg
- 125g of sugar
Beat these together in a bowl until you get a pale yellow frothy mixture.
Frothy!
Then add this lot to the bowl:
- 250g plain flour
- 125g butter (I always use Kærgården)
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda (natron)
- ½ teaspoon of cardemom (stødt kardemomme)
- ½ teaspoon of ground ginger (ingefær)
- ½ teaspoon of cinammon (kanel)
- ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
Flour, butter and spice – and all things
nice!
Beat them again and then scrape the mixture out of the bowl…
Whisk, whisk, whisk
…and into a plastic bag. Throw it in the fridge for an hour or so until the
dough hardens up.
Dough, ready for the fridge
Cut off chunks of dough, then roll them into long sausage/worm shapes. Take
a knife and cut the sausage into small pieces (about the size of a small
cherry). Roll them into little balls.
Rolling pieces of pebernødder dough
Place them on a baking tray (I always use baking paper for easy clean up) and
pop them into a warm oven – 200c/400f.
Pebernødder – almost golden brown
Bake them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until they look dry and are
beginning to turn a pale golden brown. Let them cool off and then you can a)
eat them b) play with them (more on that another day) or c) put them in little
cellophone bag or boxes to give away as presents.
Velbekomme! And don’t forget to check back here tomorrow when we
open the next door!
Diane 