Craftsy Tuesday: Swedish gingerbread cookies with Richard Ruskell
For our second Craftsy Tuesday, I’m pleased to introduce Richard Ruskell, one of the top 10 pastry chefs in America. Today Chef Ruskell is sharing with us a unique gingerbread recipe that is perfect for your holiday gift-giving.
This is my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe. I adapted it from one of my mother’s church cookbooks which were so popular in the 50s and 60s.
Growing up in a heavily Scandinavian-influenced part of Minnesota we often went to the Lutheran church for lutefisk and lefse suppers. Swedish meatballs: yes! Lutefisk: I’ll pass! Lefse: yes! Pepparkakar: Always! This recipe is derived from pepparkakar, a gingerbread cookie with pepper. Although I have cut back on the pepper I did keep a representative amount. Hope you enjoy.
This recipe is one I submitted for the cookbook
Ingredients
Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger and black pepper. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars at medium speed until light, about three minutes. Beat in the egg and salt.
In a small bowl, stir together the hot water, baking soda, and molasses until the baking soda is dissolved.
At low speed, gradually add this to the butter mixture.
Increase the speed to medium and mix until blended. At low speed, add the dry ingredients in several additions, mixing just until combined.
Scrape the dough onto a work surface and shape it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours (or up to three days).
When ready to bake heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray two baking sheets.
Divide the chilled dough into quarters. Rewrap and refrigerate three of the quarters.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/8 inch (a thin 1/8 inch), use flour sparingly, only enough to prevent sticking.
Using cookie cutters no bigger than 2-3 inches cut out as many cookies as you can.
Carefully transfer thecookies to one of the prepared baking sheets and lightly sprinkle with sugar. Gather the scraps of dough into a flat ball and refrigerate.
Repeat with fresh dough, making sure the scraps have time to cool down and stiffen. Work until all the cookies are made.
Bake the cookies until the tops are set, 8 to 10 minutes.
Cool the cookies for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temp.