Orange gingerbread cookies

These orange gingerbread cookies and hot glogg are a must when talking about Nordic Christmas. I created this spicy orange gingerbread cookie recipe to mimic a traditional Swedish gingerbread brand that makes such flavorful orange gingerbreads – so why not have them as a handmade Christmas treat? These gingerbreads get the flavor from Christmas spices and orange peel with some orange blossom water. The scent in the kitchen says welcome Christmas time!

Other Nordic Christmas posts you might enjoy to make your Handmade Christmas:

• Danish cranberry gløgg | Alcohol-free Christmas glogg
• Natural Nordic Christmas Wreath | Handmade Christmas
• Natural Gift Ideas I Handmade Christmas

Tips for making

• Be patient and leave the cookie dough to cool in the fridge for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, to make shaping the gingerbreads much easier.
• Choose butter over margarine to make the dough harden quicker and to make it easier to shape it too.
• Use a large pot to heat the syrup and spices so you can use it as a dough bowl to make your gingerbread dough. Less things to wash!
• If it is hard to move the gingerbreads without tearing them, roll the dough directly on the parchment paper so you do not need to move them.

Ingredients you need for orange gingerbread cookies

• Dark syrup. Notice that syrupcannot be substituted with honey, for the sourness of the syrup reacts with the baking soda to make the gingerbreads rise in the oven. Without sour ingredients like syrup, the baking soda might cause a slight tartness in the cookie and it will not rise well.
• Caster sugar can be substituted with brown sugar
• Cinnamon powder
• Ground cardamom
• Clove powder 
• Bitter orange peel powder 
• Orange blossom water, optional. Can be substituted with orange juice to obtain a slightly smoother orange flavor and scent.
• Grated orange peel
• Margarine or butter,  I use what I have in the fridge, so both options work. Use butter tough if you prefer to do the gingerbreads on the same day, for the animal fat in butter cools and hardens better than the vegetable fat in margarine. Butter also makes it easier to shape and the Doug gets warm slower when working with the dough, which is quite handy. 
• Eggs
• Wheat flour
• Baking soda,  see the notes above about the dark syrup.

You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.

Tools you may need

• Large pot, that is easy to make the gingerbread dough in. If you prefer to use an electric mixer, reserve a bowl of a stand mixer to move the hot syrup with spices into, with a paddle attachment.
• Measuring spoons
• Scale
• Whisk
• Plastic bag, cling film/plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Butter knife, or cooking spatula to easily move the gingerbreads on the parchment paper
• Oven pans, preferably two so that you can fill the other one while the other is in the oven for a perfect workflow 
• Parchment paper

How to make orange gingerbread cookies

Step 1. Make the base of the dough

Measure the dark syrup, sugar, and spices in a large cooking pot and heat it until almost boiling. Remove the pot from the stove and add the butter cut into cubes, orange blossom water, and orange peel, stirring until the butter is melted and all the ingredients are well combined.

Step 2. Add eggs

Add eggs, whisking in one by one.

Step 3. Dry ingredients

Mix the baking soda with the wheat flour and add the flour gradually, combining well with the whisk.

Step 4. Cooling the dough

Move the dough into a plastic bag or use a beeswax wrap and flatten the dough well to ease it to cool. Place the dough into the fridge for at least a few hours, preferably overnight. The dough will get better structure and better flavor when you have the patience to leave it to rest in the cold.

Step 5. Next day roll the dough

Take the dough out from the fridge and divide it into four pieces. Return three of them covered into the fridge and start working with the first batch of gingerbread dough on a floured work surface. Work with one portion of dough at a time to keep the dough cold and easy to work with.

Step 6. Shaping the gingerbreads

Set the oven temperature to 200°C (°F). Take small to medium-sized gingerbreads with the cookie cutters and place them on the baking tray covered with the baking sheet. Reserve the rest of the dough and return it to the fridge. Take the next cold piece and work the same way until you have used all of the dough.

Step 7. Baking in the oven

Bake the gingerbreads in the oven one tray at a time for 5-7 minutes. Let the orange gingerbread cookies cool on a wire rack or without the oven pan at least to prevent them continue cooking. Notice that if you are baking larger gingerbreads you might need to lower the temperature and bake for a longer time to make them fully cooked and not burn them.

If it is hard to move the gingerbreads without tearing them, roll the dough directly on the parchment paper so you do not need to move them.

Serving the orange gingerbread cookies

Enjoy your happy holidays’ Nordic style and serve the gingerbread cookies like a true Nordic with a steaming hot glogg and a bit of raisin and almonds along the drink. There is no such thing as too many gingerbreads when you are dipping them into spicy glogg, I assure you they are the perfect treat for Christmas time!

How to tweak this recipe

• Peel one orange (only the orange parts, not the bitter white part) and let the peels simmer with the syrup in the pot to give a stronger orange flavor. Pick the orange peel off before adding the margarine or butter.
• Leave off the orange blossom water and add orange juice to get a smoother orange flavor.
• Add a half of a teaspoon of black pepper for a punchier gingerbread.
• To upgrade your gingerbreads decorate your orange gingerbreads with royal icing flavored with orange and colored with orange using a piping bag. You can also sprinkle a hint of orange zest on the royal icing to maximize the flavor and outcome.
• If you want more soft gingerbread cookies, just let them brown only slightly before removing them from the oven.
• For crispier cookies, let the gingerbreads brown a bit more and leave them cool on the hot oven tray to keep them cooking a bit longer time.

What are your Christmas baking favorites?

What kind of holiday baker you are? Is gingerbreads a must or is it something else? Let me know in the comments at the end of this post what is your favorite and a must of the Holiday season!

You can find the recipe card below!

Holiday inspirations