Swedish ginger cookies with cinnamon and cloves

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1. Warm the spice mixture

   10 min

   Heat the butter, sugar, honey, and water in a saucepan until the butter and sugar dissolve; do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Let cool to room temperature.

2. Make the dough

   12 hr

   Mix the flour with the baking soda, add the cooled mixture, and knead into a smooth, soft dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, for at least 12 hours. The dough will firm up so it can be rolled very thin.

3. Roll and cut out the cookies

   40 min

   Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Working in batches, roll the dough on a floured work surface to a thickness of 2 mm, keeping the remaining dough refrigerated. Cut out hearts, stars, or pigs and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

4. Bake

   30 min

   Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 5–6 minutes, until the edges are a shade darker. They will continue to firm up on the baking sheet, so let them sit for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack.

5. Store

   Once completely cool, store the cookies in a cookie tin. They will stay crisp for several weeks.

Tip: Roll the dough directly on parchment paper and remove the scraps between the cutout shapes. This keeps the thin cookies from losing their shape when transferred to the baking sheet.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Švédske zázvorové sušienky so škoricou a klinčekmi