Norwegian Christmas Cookies
The joy of Christmas time is definitely in full effect in Norway these days! Whoop whoop! All things Christmas and all of the joy this time of year brings most people can be seen in store windows, hear playing on the radio and felt in the hearts of many in Norway beginning December 1. In order to mark Christmas here on TFTF and help spread some Christmas cheer, I’ve decided to share my seven favorite Norwegian Christmas cookie recipes. But why specifically 7 cookie varieties you ask?
The answer is simple – the Norwegian seven sorts (syv slag til jul på norsk) tradition . As the tradition goes, it is bad luck to serve less than seven types of cookies during Christmas-related events. So generally speaking, anywhere you go during this time of year to experience julfryd (the Christmas spirit), you are usually served not just one but 7 or more type of Christmas cookies – each time cookies are served.
Norwegian food experts vary a bit in which cookie varieties they think started the tradition (read more here and here), but many include some combination of smultringer (Christmas donuts), pepperkaker (gingerbread), goro, berlinerkranser, krumkaker, fattigmann (poor man’s cookies), sirupssnipper (syrup snaps), bordstabel, brune pinner (brown pins) and sandkaker on their list.
If you want to add a little bit of Norway to your Christmas festivities this year, try one of my favorite Norwegian Cookie recipes.
Pepperkaker
Sandkaker
Krumkaker
Coconut macaroons
Hazelnut macaroons
Brune Pinner
Sirupssnipper
Sign up for my special subscribers list and get all of the above plus my FREE no-strings-attached eBook “The Ultimate Guide to Norwegian Food”!
Thank you Whitney — I was browsing through cookie recipes on Pinterest and stumbled onto your page on the 7 cookies — I’m looking forward to trying some of them. Monica
So good to hear! I hope you enjoy them and let us knwo which recipe you liked the best 🙂