Danish honey gingerbread hearts coated in chocolate. These cookies contain no added sugar – all their sweetness comes from good-quality honey. The best honey to use is simply your favourite one, remembering that as the main ingredient it will strongly determine the flavour of the cookies. The dough needs to rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours to develop the right consistency before baking.
Traditionally, honey gingerbread cookies are baked at the end of November and stored in tins so they soften while waiting for Christmas. They are usually coated in chocolate shortly before the holidays. Lightly sweet and wonderfully aromatic – truly delicious. In older Danish recipes, honey and flour are often mixed together a month in advance (similar to traditional Polish gingerbread dough). After resting in a cool place, the remaining ingredients – including ammonium bicarbonate – are added before baking. This version is simplified, as those leavening agents are harder to find outside Scandinavia, but the cookies are just as tasty.
Makes about 70 gingerbread hearts.
Ingredients for honey gingerbread cookies:
- 450 g runny honey*
- 450 g plain flour
- 20 g gingerbread spice mix
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons water
Sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.
Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer and mix until a soft, sticky dough forms. Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover tightly with cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours.
After chilling, remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 5 mm thickness. Cut out heart shapes (mine were about 5.5 cm wide) and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving plenty of space between them as they expand during baking.
Bake the honey gingerbread cookies at 170°C for about 10 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Ingredients for the chocolate coating:
- 300 g dark chocolate
Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie or in the microwave. Dip the tops of the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a wire rack until the coating sets.
How to soften gingerbread cookies
Freshly baked gingerbread cookies are usually quite hard because of the honey. To soften them, they need to absorb some moisture from the air or fruit. Place the cookies (before coating with chocolate) on a rack in a slightly humid room. If the air in your home is dry, store them in an airtight tin with pieces of peeled apple. Replace the apple every few days so it doesn’t turn mouldy. The cookies will gradually absorb moisture and become wonderfully soft.
*If the honey is solid, warm it gently in a saucepan until liquid, then allow it to cool before using.
Enjoy!
Recipe source: dk-kogebogen.dk.
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