Growing up, we always made a recipe out of the classic Swedish baking book Sju sorters kakor, called Franska pepparkakor, French gingersnaps, for Christmas. Why they were French I am not entirely sure. I have lived in France and never encountered anything similar.

A more apt name is skurna pepparkor, sliced gingersnaps. I like making these because they take much less time than rolling out and cutting traditional pepparkakor but still use the same iconic seasonal spices. This year, I adapted the recipe to be a little less sweet and also be made with 100% rye flour. I like making whole grain cookies, because they are more robust in flavor than baking with traditional all-purpose flour. But you can swap out for all-purpose flour if that’s what you have!

This makes a pretty big batch, so you can also cut it in half if you like.

These cookies are great on their own, but also pair very well with a little blue cheese. And a mug of glögg, of course.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (5 ounces, 140 grams) almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup (8 ounces, 225 grams) butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup (1.75 ounces, 50 gram) sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) molasses
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 4 teaspoons cardamom seeds, crushed (or 2-3 teaspoons ground cardamom)
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Zest of one orange
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups (8.75 ounces, 250 grams) rye flour

Preparation:

Chop the almonds and set them aside.

Cream the butter, sugar and molasses, then mix in the spices and orange zest until well blended.

Mix the baking soda with the flour, then add to the wet ingredients along with the almonds. Work the dough together with your hands until you can form it into two cylinders, each about 12 inches long and wrap in parchment paper or a tea towel. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Note: the dough lasts for a few days in the refrigerator so if you don’t get around to baking them right away it’s totally fine.)

Grease a baking tray and cut dough into slices, about 1/4-inch thick. It’s easier if you use a serrated knife.

Place the slices on the tray and bake at 375ºF (180ºC) for 10 to 12 minutes.The cookies don’t spread out very much, so you can put them pretty close to each other.