Pebernødder – a small cookie flavored with cardamom, cinnamon, mace or nutmeg, cloves, and white pepper, traditionally served at Christmastime. There are variations of the cookie, but the Danish version contains white pepper and mace instead of nutmeg.
Even though today is December 7th, we’re on Day 5 of the 12 Days of Cookies. I’m a little behind, but better late than never!
Mr. 365’s father’s family has Danish roots. We’ve been fortunate enough to meet some of his Danish relatives on their various trips to the states, but we have yet to go over there to visit.
It’s on my bucket list, by golly!
Kurt’s aunt gave me this recipe while we were living near her and her husband in New Hampshire. At Christmas, she takes out all of her Danish Christmas decorations and the house always looks so very pretty.
I have a few Danish ornaments, and a few dolls that my mother-in-law made for us, so it’s wonderful to be able to decorate our house as well each year and pass that tradition on to our children.
As I’m typing this post I’m thinking it would have been perfect to use those decorations as props in my pictures, but did I think of that as I was taking them? No. haha
Oh, well. They’re buried in boxes as we have yet to decorate for Christmas.
SAVE THIS DANISH COOKIE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
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Pebernødder
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon mace I couldn't find any in our local grocery store, so had to use nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- a generous pinch of white pepper
- 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare one or two baking sheets by lining them with parchment.
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and thoroughly incorporate.
- Mix in the cardamom, cinnamon, salt, mace (or nutmeg), cloves and white pepper until completely blended.
- Gradually add flour and mix well.
- Lightly flour a clean work surface as well as your hands. Add a touch more flour to the dough if it's too sticky to handle.
- Place dough onto the flour and removing golf ball sizes of dough, roll them into strands about 3/8-inch thick. Using a knife, cut dough into smaller pieces, about 1/2 teaspoon in size.
- Place onto prepared baking sheet(s). They will spread slightly, but can be placed about 3/4-inch to an inch apart.
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly golden.
- Cool for 15 minutes on the baking sheet and store in an airtight container.
I really, really liked these Pebernødder cookies! I thought they were going to be a bit heavy on the spice, but they were absolutely perfect. As you can see in the picture, they could have been left a touch longer in the oven as the bottoms are not as golden as I’d like.
I took them out a touch early to be on the safe side because my oven is fickle and tends to burn, so maybe another 30 seconds to a minute would have been perfect.
They’re little and you can lose track of how many you’re eating, so be careful! 😉
If you like these, then you’ll LOVE…
Cream Cheese Cookies
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints
Comments & Reviews
These are extremely similar to the pebernodder our family makes, based on a recipe brought from great great grandparents in the 1860s, from Denmark Europe to Denmark Kansas. Although when my sister went back to the old family farm in Europe she found that no one makes them like this anymore–they’re now softer, like the German pfeffernusse.
When we cut them we rotate them a quarter turn so they’re sort of trapezoidal. Don’t know why–just always have!
Thanks for letting me know, Kirsten. I love that story! Interesting that the recipe’s changed back home over the years, hunh? I love that you twist the dough for a different look. I’ll definitely have to do that next time I make them. Thank you!
We make Pebernødder in my family every year and it’s such a surprise to see them on a website! I feel like nobody has ever heard of them. We lay ours round side up on the sheet to bake so they look more coin shaped in the end. And we always have to bake one tray softer and one tray crispy for the different preferences in my family. My Danish great grandfather used to eat them a little pile of them with a cup of coffee.
Shanna, thank you so much for sharing that! With my husband’s Danish heritage, I thought it would be a great recipe to include here on the blog for my children and future relatives. I’m so glad we connected through these cookies!
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season with your family and enjoy your Pebernødder!
I had a recipe for these I quite liked, which I lost. I found this recipe, ingredients looked similar, picture of cookie looks similar. This recipe is great and I love making this little cookie during the holidays! They are easy to make, bite size, you can bake practically the entire batch at once, great addition to a cookie box/platter. Great recipe! I doubled it. They taste great!
Oh, Lindsey, that’s so wonderful to hear that you found this recipe. Thank you so much for letting me know and for your feedback!