11 Scandinavian Christmas Cookie Recipes (2024)

Across the sea, winter darkness cloaks frosty fjords and snow-capped glaciers. But Scandinavians (and their brethren who settled the upper Midwest) have an antidote for the long nights: sugar, spice and candlelight. Inspired by old-world flavors and traditions, our cookies will brighten your home and sweeten your holiday season. According to Scandinavian folklore, mischievous red-capped tomtar or nisser (like the artfully iced ones on the wedges pictured) lived at every house, caring for farm animals or, in some tellings, leaving gifts. In return, the bearded elves asked only that a bowl of buttered julegrot (rice porridge) be left in the snow on Christmas eve.

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Cardamom-Rye Cookies

11 Scandinavian Christmas Cookie Recipes (1)

Rye flour lends whole-grain nuttiness to Finnish ruiskakut. The cookies are usually wreath shape, but we made triangle tomtar elves (shown on previous slide) and square picture-frame cookies.

To paint these little masterpieces, we mixed food coloring or gold luster powder (an edible, fabulously sparkly splurge sold at crafts stores) with vodka to make a paint to brush on Royal Icing. (We use vodka because it dries fast, but water would work.)

A few tips: Use a small brush. Keep designs simple. Have fun—Jackson Pollock cookies look just as cool as Rembrandts.

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Orange-Saffron Stamp Cookies

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On Saint Lucia's Day (December 13), Swedish girls don crowns of candles and serve coffee and rolls before dawn. The flickering flames and soft, saffron- tinted lussekatter buns warmly herald the Christmas season. Saffron also lends its sunny hue and floral flavor to our tender cookies. Press them with a stamp, a glass or a fork.

Christmas Cookie Recipes to Treasures

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Lingonberry Hearts

Ruby-red lingonberries grow in Scandinavia's mountains, and sweet-tart jam made from the fruit is a regional staple. Our buttery cookies are crisp on the first day but soften as they meld with the preserves. (Lingonberry jam is available at some large supermarkets or online. You can use raspberry, too.)

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Honey-Spice Waffle Cookies

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Waferlike Norwegian krumkake cookies, made in an ornate press, inspired these waffle-maker treats. They have the best texture on the first day, so the recipe makes a small batch, just right for whipping up when friends and family visit.

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Tosca Diamonds

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Norwegian tosca cake layers caramelized almonds on sponge cake; a bar-cookie version swaps the cake for shortbread and has icing on top. We married the two and added our own gooey twist to these rich bars: buttery cookie crust, baked almond filling and warm caramel drizzle.

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Brown-Butter Kringler

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In Denmark, the golden kringle (pretzel) is an old guild symbol that often hangs outside bakeries. Our sweet version uses browned butter for deeper, nutty flavor.

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Triple-Almond Haystack Wreath

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Almond butter and extract, plus slivered nuts, flavor a sweet and-salty, no-bake cookie that looks like woven straw ornaments. Make a big wreath to slice at parties or small ones for gifts. Or just drop haystack-style mounds.

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Blueberry-Almond Fika Toasts

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Wild blueberries thrive in Sweden, where fika refers to a midday break for coffee-often accompanied by a treat like these biscotti-style cookies. Like biscotti, these coffee-spice flavor cookies bake twice to crisp thoroughly-perfect for dipping in hot drinks.

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Crispy Gingerbread

11 Scandinavian Christmas Cookie Recipes (9)

The nose-tickling scents of ginger and clove float from ovens as pepparkakor bakes. Gingerbread is a Scandinavian holiday staple, with crisp cookies shaped into animals, hearts or petite cottage walls.

Our recipe yields cookies sturdy enough for houses but delicious for snacking in any shape. Whether you use a gingerbread house cookie cutter as we did or improvise, here are a few pro construction tips: Measure and trim the warm cookies for clean edges. Then decorate all pieces (walls, roof, chimney) separately and let them dry. Use soup cans or crumpled foil to support the joined walls from the inside as they dry, and wait until the walls are fully set to attach the roof. (Insert pins until the roof dries, if necessary.)

Gingerbread Recipes You'll Love

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Scandinavian Brownies

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Ground almonds and cardamom transform the fudgy American classic. For wintry flair, use a cut-out paper snowflake as a powdered sugar stencil.

Heavenly Homemade Food Gifts

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Hazelnut Macaroons

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We traded Scandinavia's beloved almonds for toasted hazelnuts in spice-kissed, six-ingredient drop cookies that look like little snowballs. We love these simple cookies plain, but if you want to dress them up, dip the bottoms of the cooled cookies in melted bittersweet chocolate.

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Cookie Inspiration

11 Scandinavian Christmas Cookie Recipes (12)

Love our cookies? Here's our inspiration:

Read Before dreaming up these recipes, we consulted The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Duluth resident Beatrice Ojakangas. It's an outstanding guide to traditional Nordic breads, cookies and cakes.

Shop We ordered our gingerbread house cutter and snowflake cookie stamp from Ingebretsen's, a treasure trove of Scandinavian gifts and baking gear and a Minneapolis institution since 1921.

Decorate Kansas paper artist Angie Pickman created most of the snowflakes, paper trees and luminaria featured in our photos. She has made similar pieces available on her Etsy site.

11 Scandinavian Christmas Cookie Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the number 1 Christmas cookie? ›

Based on this data from General Mills, Peanut Butter Blossoms are the most popular Christmas cookie in the country; it's the most-visited cookie recipe in seven states, which means it's the most common favorite cookie in the U.S. That's a pretty high honor!

What is the most popular cookie in Norway? ›

Favorite Norwegian Cookie Survey Results
  • 74.54% – Krumkaker / Krumkake / Norwegian cone cookies (1,300)
  • 4.24% – Fattigmann / Poor man's cookies (74)
  • 3.84% – Sandkaker / Sandbakkels (67)
  • 3.1% – Rosetter / Rosettes (54)
  • 3.1% – Smultringer / Doughnuts (54)
  • 2.98% – Kransekake / Almond ring cake (52)
Jan 12, 2023

What is the Swedish cookie tradition? ›

Sju sorters kakor (Norwegian: syv slags kaker), "seven kinds of cookies", is a Swedish and Norwegian tradition where hosts typically prepare seven different kinds of cookies for their guests.

Who introduced Christmas cookies to America? ›

Most commonly it is believed that the first Christmas cookies arrived in America in the 17th century thanks to Dutch immigrants. Modern Christmas cookies are said to trace their recipe routes back to Medieval Europe biscuits.

What is the world's Favourite cookie? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co. But did you know Oreos are a copycat product?

What is the least favorite Christmas cookie? ›

On the naughty list of cookies, Americans gave the lowest win records to anise cookies, which only won 29% of its matchups.

What are the 7 types of Norwegian cookies? ›

Though preferences vary from family, the cookies most likely to be on the svy slags lineup were sirupsnipper (syrup diamonds), Berlinerkranser (Berlin wreaths), sandkaker (tart-shaped cookies), krumkaker (delicate cone-shaped cookies),smultringer (little donuts), goro (a rectangular biscuit made on a decorative iron), ...

What is a famous Denmark cookie? ›

Butter cookies, also known as Danish butter cookies, are cookies originating in Denmark consisting of butter, flour, and sugar. They are similar to shortbread cookies. The butter cookie is often categorized as a "crisp cookie" due to its texture, caused in part by the quantity of butter and sugar.

What is the most famous dessert in Norway? ›

1. Kransekake. Literally translated to "Ring Cake" in Norwegian, the Kransekake is truly a symbol of Norwegian culture and heritage.

What is the favorite cookie in Sweden? ›

Finska pinnar. Swedes aren't in love with cookies as much as Americans are, but there's one cookie that most Swedes know and love: “drömmar.” A “dröm” was always found on the tray when “sju sorters kakor” were served.

What is the symbol of Christmas cookies? ›

For so many around the world, cookies symbolize that spirit of giving. In all shapes and flavors, they're a bite-size emblem for generosity, solidarity, and seasonal joy. Here is the recipe for the first recorded American Christmas cookie.

What is a traditional Swedish Christmas dinner? ›

Christmas presents are under the lighted tree, candles shine brightly and the smorgasbord (or smörgåsbord, as it's written in Swedish) has been prepared with all the classic dishes: Christmas ham, pork sausage, an egg and anchovy mixture (gubbröra), herring salad, pickled herring, home-made liver pâté, wort-flavoured ...

Which country started leaving cookies for Santa? ›

Theory 1: The Dutch Connection

One theory traces the tradition of leaving milk and cookies out for Santa Claus to the Netherlands, where the celebration of St. Nicholas Day takes place on December 6th. According to this theory, children would leave their shoes out on the night of December 5th, and St.

What country invented cookies? ›

The Origin of the Cookie

They date back as early as 7th Century A.D. Persia which is now Iran. They were one of the first countries to grow and harvest sugar cane. With war and exploration eventually sugar was introduced to the Mediterranean area and European countries and so were cookies.

Why do we eat cookies on Christmas? ›

Treats for Jolly Old St.

The practice of putting out cookies for Santa began in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when parents were trying to instill a sense of thankfulness in their children. Leaving goodies, perhaps in a sweet cookie jar, continues to be a way of sharing the holiday bounty.

What is the #1 cookie in the US? ›

Nearly 93% of all American households serve and enjoy cookies as treats or after meals. However, it's the chocolate chip cookie that's the most popular in the U.S. and around the world.

What is the most popular cookie for Santa? ›

Chocolate Chip cookies

You can never go wrong with these classic, delicious cookies. Santa himself lists these as his favorites, and he prefers them soft and gooey with lots of chocolate chips. If you decide to leave these out for him, make sure there's a glass of cold milk nearby!

What is the 2nd most popular cookie? ›

Nabisco Oreo was ranked as the second leading cookie brand in the United States with generated sales of 778.8 million U.S. dollars in 2016. The dominating brands Nabisco Oreo and Nabisco Chips Ahoy are owned by East Hanover-based Nabisco.

What is the most popular Christmas candy? ›

According to America's Favorite Christmas Candy by State Report, a comprehensive study by research firm HubScore that delved into a survey of the top 20 favorite Christmas candies, Kit Kat ranked top in 13 states followed by a tie between Skittles and candy canes, both ranked top in six states.

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