Danish "Brun Kager" Brown Cookies

Bergy's Note:

Traditional Danish Christmas cookie. They have a wonderful spicy flavor that stays with you long after you eat it - It's the taste of Christmas to me. Sometimes it is tricky to slice the cookies, especially if you did not wrap & seal them well, then they tend to crumble. Seal them well and leave them 2 weeks in the fridge and you shouldn't have any trouble

• Total Time: 336 hrs 8 mins
• Prep Time: 336 hrs
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 5 doz apprx

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking ammonia (this is available at your local pharmacy, they'll probably give it to you when you say you only need)
• 1 teaspoon cardamom, powdered
• 1 teaspoon clove
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger, powdered
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds

Directions:

1. Melt the butter, sugar& corn syrup together.
2. Sift dry ingredients and add to melted mixture.
3. Form into 2 or 3 rolls, about 2" high, wrap in plastic so the rolls are completely sealed and chill in the refrigerator for at least a week, 2 weeks is better Slice thinly and place on a buttered cookie sheet (Just over a 1/4").
4. Bake in moderate oven 375f for 5-7 minutes.

Reviews

[Yggrasill]

To be fair, I have not tried this recipe. It may taste terrific. I am from Danish stock - my father is Danish - and I have baked my grandmother's brown cookie recipe for years. You simply can't use corn syrup in a recipe like this and call it traditional. It's not. Traditional calls for a combination of molasses and brown sugar.

[Lille]

These have a great flavour and nice chewy texture. They baked up lighter in colour than the ones I remembered from Denmark. Next time I will try dark corn syrup instead of the white.

[puppitypup]

Bergy, we loved these! Using baker's ammonia leaves these cookies with pure flavor rather than baking powder after-taste like most cookies. I left out the cardamom since it turns out I was all out, and even without it these cookies are keepers! They traveled well too as we took them on vacation with us. Thanks for posting!