Gingerbread Biscuits (Danish brunkager) - Susanne's recipe

February 13, 2026

“This is it. you hereby get my recipe for gingerbread biscuits. The recipe is over a 100 years old.” My sister in law announced one day. I was a bit shell shocked. It had taken me almost all of those 100 years to pry the recipe from her:-S But now that I have it, I am happy to share this recipe. it is awesome!

Ingredients

250 g (9 oz) dark syrup
500 g (18 oz) butter
500 g (18 oz) sugar
½ dl (1/4 cup) cold coffee (not instant)
1 tsp potash
125 g (4.5 oz) ground almonds
ginger to tast. I use about 1 1/2 tsp ground dried ginger.
1 kg (35 oz) white flour

Directions

Syrup, sugar and butter is melted together in a pan to a caramel, heat it thoroughly without boiling. Take it of the heat and let it cool slightly.

Add the potash into the cold coffee and stir it into the melted caramel.

Add the ginger and chopped almonds to the caramel.

The flour is only kneaded in when the caramel has completely cooled. Hold back at least 100 g (3 oz)!

Divide into 8 portions and roll each one to an approx. 5 cm (2 inches) thick rolls and let them rest at a cool spot until the next day, when they can be sliced and baked. Or you can put some of them into the freezer far later use. They last very well.

Wrap the bars in wax paper/baking paper and plastic wrap. Close it tightly to prevent drying out.

You slice the rolls into thin slices for individual cookies. A bit like cold cuts. As thinly as you can make them without breaking. Aim for about 3 mm (1/8 inch).

Bake at 200°C (390°F) for approx. 8 min.

Bake on the top shelf of the oven to avoid uneven browning.

Notes

I use equal amounts of white sugar and dark cane sugar. You can also just use dark cane sugar, but then they get to hard for my taste.

Typically you cannot use all of the 1 kg (35 oz) flour, but perhaps 900 g (32 oz), it depends on the flour.

If the dough becomes too dry, you can use more coffee.

Thanks for the recipe Susanne! Finally …