Pippar Kakku Finnish Cookies

Pippar Kakku Recipe The majority of our Christmas traditions come from Finland, where my grandparents were born. Decorations take over the whole house; Finnish flags on the tree, stars everywhere, two candles burning in the window. My favourite traditions are the ones I can eat.

1 ¼ Cup Margarine 1 Cup Sugar 3 Eggs ¾ Cup Dark Syrup ¼ Cup Molasses 2 Teaspoons Ginger 2 Teaspoons Cloves 2 Teaspoons Cardamom 3 ½ - 4 Cups Ground Almond 3 ½ - 4 Cups Flour 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix in eggs, syrup and molasses. Mix wet ingredients together then add the dry ingredients. This makes very soft dough so you might want to add up to 4 cups of both the almond and flour to make it a little thicker. Extra dough needs to be refrigerated.

Bake on 325 Degrees F for 5-10 min.

Traditionally the cookies are cut into a pig, a boy and snowflake shapes without icing but we like to use royal icing to make them a little more festive.

My mum says “It doesn't matter how many cookies you cut out of the dough you can always squeeze in a pig.”

Enjoy!