My Danish Christmas Advent Calendar – 2 December (Pebernødder)

Posted on by DIANE IN DENMARK

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!

2 DECEMBER

Okay, it’s time to get your pinnies on – we’re baking!  Yep, a lot of Danish families get together at Christmas in order to bake.  Not cakes – there’s no Danish version of the British heavy-fruit-packed Christmas cake or French bûche de noël (yule log).  No, they bake lots of different biscuits and cookies.  My daughter was invited over to her friend’s house on Saturday afternoon and they baked several tins full…

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 tomorrow! 🙂

pebernødder

 

You can, of course, just buy them at the supermarket or from your local baker.

But they’re pretty simple to make.  So on with the show!

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.

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

Beat them again and then scrape the mixture out of the bowl…

…and into a plastic bag.  Throw it in the fridge for an hour or so until the dough hardens up.

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.

Place them on a baking tray (I always use baking paper for easy clean up) and pop them into a warm oven – 200c/400f.

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 tomorrow) 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 :)

2 thoughts on “My Danish Christmas Advent Calendar – 2 December (Pebernødder)”

  1. […] I gave you a recipe for making pebernødder (“pepper nuts”) and told you that there’s a game you can play with these small […]

  2. […] you want to try making these little beauties yourself over the weekend (along with some of those pebernødder, perhaps?), you’ll need to beg, borrow or steal a special piece of kitchen equipment!  So […]

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