Christmas cookies are a huge part of Denmark’s festive celebration. Sweet and indulgent foods line the tables of any traditional Julefrokost feast, and the Danish butter cookie is one of everyone’s favourite treats. This traditional Nordic food is crumbly, sweet, and mouth-wateringly good.
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla bean or vanilla extract
- 6 oz of sugar
- 7 oz soft butter
- 9 oz all-purpose flour
- 3 oz almonds
- 1 egg
Directions
- Preheat your oven to around 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a tray with greaseproof paper to stop the cookies from sticking when they’re ready to bake.
- Use a food processor to grind your almonds into an almond flour. You can also get ground almonds if this is easier and use it in your recipe instead.
- Scrape the vanilla seeds from your bean, then mix them with the sugar, soft butter, almond flour, and all-purpose flour. You can use vanilla extract if you can’t find a vanilla bean.
- Add your egg and mix everything until you get a smooth and very moist dough.
- Pour your dough into a piping bag and add your favorite piping nozzle to create swirl-style cookies.
- Pipe the dough into small circles, about 4-5 cm in diameter on your parchment paper, making sure you place each cookie around 4cm apart. You’ll need plenty of space between each cookie, as they can expand quite a bit.
- Bake your cookies for around 6 minutes, until they have a light brown color to them, rather than a deep golden color.
- Leave the cookies to cool, then serve.
Tip: You can sprinkle your finished cookies with icing sugar or cinnamon for extra flavor if you like, or consider dipping them in melted chocolate, similar to shortbread.
Danish butter cookies origin
Butter cookies are a common staple of a lot of countries, and the Vaniljekranse recipe is a popular choice in Denmark. The use of almond flour gives these delicious treats a unique flavor, particularly when served alongside some of the other amazing treats on the Julefrokost table.
Be careful with these crumbly biscuits – they can make quite a mess.
Scandification: Discovering Scandinavia.
