Gingerbread biscuits

Ingredients

• 300 gplain flour
• 80 gicing sugar
• 130 gcold butter
• 1egg yolk
• 60 ghoney
• 20 gmolasses
• to tastesalt
• 2 g (2 coffee teaspoons)bicarbonate of soda
• 2 g (2 coffee teaspoons)ground cinnamon
• 0.5 g (½ coffee teaspoon)nutmeg
• 2 g (about 2 level coffee teaspoons)ground ginger
• 1.5 g (about 1.5 level coffee teaspoons)ground cloves
• 30 gegg white
• 150 gicing sugar
• to tastelemon juice

Instructions

1. 1

   Rub in butter

   Put the flour and cold butter in a food processor. Pulse briefly until the butter is reduced to very fine crumbs, then stop.

2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Add the honey, 80 g icing sugar, molasses, spices, egg yolk, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Pulse again until large crumbs form and the mixture starts to come together. If you do not have molasses, use 80 g honey in total instead.

3. 3

   Roll and chill

   Tip the mixture onto a work surface and knead until smooth and even. Roll it between two sheets of baking paper to 4–5 mm thick, then chill for 30 minutes.

4. 4

   Cut shapes

   Take the dough from the fridge and cut out shapes with biscuit cutters.

5. 5

   Bake biscuits

   Arrange the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in a conventional oven at 175°C for about 13–14 minutes. Remove them from the tray as soon as possible and leave to cool completely.

6. 6

   Make icing

   Beat the room-temperature egg white in a bowl. As it begins to foam, gradually add the sifted 150 g icing sugar and lemon juice. The icing can be coloured with a few drops of food colouring if you wish.

7. 7

   Fill piping bag

   Transfer the royal icing to a disposable piping bag and snip the tip to make a 1 mm opening. Alternatively, fit the bag with a 1 mm nozzle.

8. 8

   Decorate biscuits

   Once the biscuits are completely cool, pipe on the icing. Start with the outlines, then add the finer details.

What are Swedish gingerbread biscuits?

These biscuits are a Swedish-style take on pepparkakor, the thin, spiced biscuits often associated with Christmas. This version uses butter and a little egg yolk for a tender, workable dough, with honey and molasses adding sweetness and depth.

The dough is rolled, chilled and cut into festive shapes before baking. A crisp outline of royal icing adds decoration without hiding the warm spice flavour.

Nutrition and macros by portion

The nutrition label shows one serving as written: 94 calories, 1g protein, 15g carbs, 3g fat.

Most of the carbohydrates come from the flour, icing sugar, honey and molasses, while butter supplies most of the fat and the egg contributes a little protein. Pair a few biscuits with fruit or yoghurt if you want to make a more balanced snack.

Why process the flour and butter first?

Fine crumbs: pulsing cold butter with the flour distributes small pieces of fat throughout the mixture. This gives the dough a short, biscuit-like texture once baked.

Brief pulses: stop as soon as the butter resembles fine crumbs. Processing for too long can warm the butter and make the dough harder to handle.

What the sweeteners contribute

Honey: it sweetens the dough and helps it bind. Molasses brings a darker colour and a deeper, slightly bittersweet note.

No molasses: the recipe allows you to use 80 g honey instead of the 60 g honey and 20 g molasses. The biscuits will be lighter in colour and a little less robust in flavour.

Chill before cutting

Firm dough: rolling between baking paper keeps the dough from sticking to the work surface and helps you reach an even 4–5 mm thickness. Chilling it for 30 minutes firms the butter and makes the shapes easier to lift.

Neat edges: if the dough softens while you cut, return it to the fridge briefly. Gather and reroll scraps gently so they do not become tough.

Watch the bake

Even thickness: keep the biscuits to a consistent 4–5 mm so they bake at a similar rate. The method gives a guide of 13–14 minutes at 175°C in a conventional oven.

Delicate handling: remove the biscuits from the tray as soon as they can be moved safely, then cool them fully before icing. They firm up as they cool, so handle them gently while hot.

Make the royal icing pipeable

Gradual additions: beat the egg white until it starts to foam, then add the sifted icing sugar a little at a time with lemon juice. This makes it easier to mix the icing evenly.

Fine detail: a 1 mm opening gives control for outlining and small decorations. Keep the icing covered while you work so it does not dry out in the piping bag.

Serving and gifting

These biscuits work well with tea, coffee or a mug of warm milk, and their sturdy shapes make them suitable for a festive biscuit tin. Let the icing set before stacking or wrapping them.

For a varied sweet plate, serve them alongside plain biscuits or fresh fruit. Their pronounced spice means a small biscuit can still bring plenty of flavour.

Recipe notes & tips

• Use butter straight from the fridge so it stays cold during the initial pulsing.
• Roll the dough between baking paper for an even sheet without adding extra flour.
• Chill the dough for the full 30 minutes to make the cut shapes easier to handle.
• Bake biscuits of similar size together so they finish at about the same time.
• Wait until the biscuits are completely cool before piping on the royal icing.
• Sift the icing sugar before adding it to the egg white to help prevent lumps.

Variations

• Skip the molasses: replace it with enough extra honey to make 80 g honey in total.
• Colour the icing: mix in a few drops of food colouring for festive decorations.
• Change the shapes: use different biscuit cutters while keeping the dough 4–5 mm thick.
• Keep them plain: leave off the royal icing for a simpler, less sweet biscuit.
• Add more detail: pipe small dots or lines after outlining each cooled biscuit.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Warm butter: it can make the dough sticky; start with butter straight from the fridge and pulse briefly.
• Overworking the dough: excessive kneading can make the biscuits less tender; stop once the dough is smooth.
• Skipping the chill: soft dough is harder to cut cleanly; refrigerate it for 30 minutes as directed.
• Uneven rolling: thick and thin areas bake differently; aim for a consistent 4–5 mm sheet.
• Icing warm biscuits: the icing can run or melt; let the biscuits cool completely first.
• Leaving biscuits on the tray: residual heat can continue baking them; transfer them off the tray as soon as possible.

How to store

Once the icing has set, keep the biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to about a week. Avoid stacking them until the icing is dry; these biscuits are best eaten as they are rather than reheated.

Frequently asked questions