These little Christmas elves helped me bake some traditional Pepparkakor (Swedish Gingersnaps)!
First of all, we followed the recipe in Lucia Morning in Sweden. This book is an all-around great introduction to Scandinavian Christmas customs for children! *Disclaimer* I am an Amazon Services LLC Associates Program member. Any purchases made through my Amazon links will earn me a small commission. I am careful to only promote products that I personally use and love!
Honestly, the best part of making the Pepparkakor dough was teaching the kids about spices. “You mean cinnamon comes from bark?” Their minds were blown! I like to cook Indian and Asian dishes, so I already had whole cardamom pods and ginger root in our pantry to show them.
The only thing missing from the recipe was cardamom. This delicious, lemony-smelling spice is found in most Pepparkakor recipes I have made in the past. So, we added one teaspoon to this recipe. Yum!
What cookie shapes should we make? This decision is the only hard part about making Pepparkakor!
Here are the finished cookies! They are slightly soft when they are first baked. After a couple days, they harden to a crispier texture. Both are delicious!
So, where do costumes come into making Pepparkakor? I mean, this is a costuming blog! Well, Emma and Elliott needed Christmas outfits for a themed night at our church’s AWANA club. I had already bought this adorable box of TeeHee Holiday Knee Socks for my costume in The Nutcracker. I knew we could use the silly socks for lots of other occasions, too. Check out the adorable packaging! This would make the perfect gift for someone.
One of my favorite things (aside from cookies) is creating impromptu costumes! We already had all of these clothing items. Green dress? Silly Christmas sweater? Vintage apron? Socks and hats? YES! Just combine them and create adorable Christmas elf costumes! (The Dollar Tree is a great place to pick up cute Christmas hats!)
I think taking dance helps them come up with such fun poses!
Well, Merry Christmas, dear readers! I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating with your family and friends. Thank you for joining me on this blogging journey. I can’t wait to make more costuming magic with you in the new year!
