Rånepepparkakor or ginger bisquits from Råneå
spicy ginger bisquits from Råneå, a version of the classic swedish gingerbread.
So the recipe for these spicy bisquits comes from a bakery in the small village far up north in Sweden where I lived as a child. The way you bake them is a bit different from the classic Swedish pepparkakor that you bake by rolling the dough thin and cutting the cookies with cookie cutters shaped in various ways.
The dough is also a bit different, and the bisquits have a lovely chewy but still crispy texture.
This recipe is based on an old recipe that I found in a book at my aunt’s place, but I made some small modifications like changing from using a lemon to an orange, and adding cardamom. It’s a really big batch (I noticed when making it!) but it’s possible to freeze parts of the dough for a later use.
500 g sugar / 500 g strösocker
juice and zest from one orange / saft och rivet skal av en apelsin
250 ml muscovado syrup / 2 1/2 dl muscovadosirap
200 ml heavy cream, whipped / 2 dl grädde, vispad
250 g butter, melted then cooled / 250 g smör, smält och avsvalnat
900 g flour / 900 g vetemjöl
2 tbsp ginger / 2 Msk ingefära
2 tbsp cardamom / 2 Msk kardemumma
2 tbsp baking soda / 2 Msk bikarbonat
Mix the sugar with the juice and zest from the orange. Add the syrup, the cooled butter and mix well. Then add the whipped cream and now you will have a nice and fluffy batter.
Mix the flour with the spices and baking soda and incorporate into the batter. Let it rest for at least a few hours, preferably over night.
Cut a piece of the dough and make a roll, then cut in smaller pieces.
Roll into small balls, then place on a baking tray with some distance in between. They will melt into a their final shape.
Bake in the middle of the oven on 125 degrees, for about 25-30 minutes.
Try to be quick as the dough will get sticky and difficult to work from the heat of you hands.
I really love these bisquits and find them BETTER than the traditional Swedish gingerbread. Hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!
