Danish Christmas Cookies, Brunkager.

When you find the Danish Christmas cookies, Brunkager, in the bakeries you know that Christmas is just around the corner. Why not bake them yourself? It’s easy and the recipe is right here.

The most popular Danish Christmas cookie is the Brunkager, translated to English it is Brown Cookies.

Brunkager is only available up to Christmas and there are a lot of recipes on this popular Danish Christmas cookie, nearly every single bakery has their own recipe.

 I remember from 1965 to 1990 it was common that the bakeries, at least in the southern part of Denmark, invited the children from the local child-minding centers into the bakery during an afternoon in December, to make cookies they could take home for Christmas. That was a Christmas tradition.

The Danish Christmas cookies are thin and crunchy with a delicious, spicy flavour. The cookies are getting the brown colour from the syrup, brown sugar, and the spices.

Danish Christmas cookies, Brunkager Recipe.

Yield: 170

250 g Butter

125 g Treacle Syrup or Dark syrup

150 g Sugar

150 g Dark Brown Sugar

500 g Flour

6 g Ground Cloves

6 g Cinnamon

40 g Mixed Peel

40 g Sliced Almond

6 g baking soda

25 g Water

Method:

Heat up butter, sugar, dark brown sugar, and syrup in a saucepan on medium heat until all sugar is melted. Take the saucepan off the stove and let it cool down for 4 – 5 min. Mix the water and baking soda together and stir in the saucepan and let it cool down for another 15 min.

Put flour, ground cloves, cinnamon, mixed peel, and sliced almonds in a mixing bowl and add the ingredients from the saucepan and mix well together with the beater for about 4 min.

Let the dough cool down and divide the dough into 3 pieces at 400 g each, roll each piece out to about 25 cm long and put in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Cut the logs about 3 to 4mm thick and place on an oven tray with baking paper.

Preheat oven to 200° C and bake the Danish Christmas cookies for 7-9min.

When baked, cool the Brunkager down on a cooling wire, when completely cold store them in an airtight container.

I know that Brunkager is a Christmas cookie, but feel free to make them any time of year, I do. I always have some Danish Butter Cookies stored in a tin if people drop in.