Christmas Baking: Scandi-Style

The Scandi Cook, Sophie Stensrud, shares her favourite recipes for festive baking with children.

Cookies are a huge part of Scandinavian Christmas. In Norway traditionally seven kinds should be baked before Christmas Eve! Nothing gives me the Christmas feels like the smell of spiced cookies baking, and I love sharing these traditions with my children. Whilst we always have traditional gingerbread, other things might be less traditional, and we’ve still never made it to seven kinds. 

Here I’m sharing two no-bake and one quick-bake recipe that are very easy to make with kids. Both no-bake ones can be made vegan if desired and all are nut-free, so can also be taken into schools and nurseries.

Some tips for baking with children:

• Get as much ready as you can before involving them. Measure out some of the trickier ingredients, set everything out including bowls and spoons, and baking trays if you need.

• Lower your expectations and be prepared for short attention spans. I find my youngest enjoys being involved in the whole process, whilst eldest tends to dip in and out of whatever is going on.

• Be prepared for the mess. Allow them to touch and taste and experiment, it is part of the process. I always have a few damp cloths at the ready to wipe down chocolatey faces and fingers.

• Pop on the Christmas playlist and enjoy!

Reindeer Poo

The ´Reindeer Poo´ is a traditional Scandi chocolate ball or Chokladbollar. They are eaten year round in Sweden and are usually flavoured with coffee, or in Denmark with rum essence. I very much prefer the coffee version, but leave the coffee out or add just a little if you think your kids might not like it. They are super easy and fairly quick to make, so great for involving younger kids. I let my 3-year-old measure and stir, and chop up the soft butter with a blunt knife. I let them choose sprinkles and obviously a fair bit of batter goes missing in the rolling process!

Ingredients

• 200 g oats

• 2 heaped tbsp cocoa

• 2 heaped tbsp brown sugar

• 2 heaped tbsp icing sugar

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 4 tbsp strong coffee (I use a shot of decaf espresso, if you think the taste of coffee will be offputting to your kids use water instead)

• 150 g very soft butter

• Sprinkles of your choice, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, coloured sprinkles, cocoa powder etc

To Make

Mix the oats, cocoa, sugars and salt. Add vanilla essence, coffee or water and stir. Then add the soft butter and stir it all together to a thick dough. Place in the fridge to cool for half an hour to an hour, then roll into walnut size balls and roll in desired sprinkles. Store in the fridge for up to a week (if you can make them last that long!).

Peppermint bites

I remember making peppermints every Christmas as a child. Back then we used raw egg whites, but I’ve adapted the recipe below so it is vegan and allergy-free to suit most people.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 tbsp golden syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 2 tbsp just boiled water

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• Peppermint essence or food grade peppermint essential oil to taste, for essence start with ½-1 tsp, I used 5 drops of essential oil

• Icing sugar to make a pliable dough – 3-400 g

• Optional – chocolate to dip, I prefer dark 70%. Melt it very gently by breaking into pieces and placing in a heat proof bowl over just simmering water.

To Make

In a bowl stir together coconut oil, syrup, vanilla essence, hot water, lemon juice and peppermint essence or essential oil. Add the icing sugar gradually until you reach a firm but pliable dough. Roll into small balls, or roll flat between two sheets of parchment and cut into desired shapes. Dip in melted chocolate if desired. For grownups a little sprinkle of salt or chilli on top is delicious, for kiddies crushed candy cane looks fabulous. Store in a sealed container in the fridge.

Scandi Gingerbread

There are tonnes of gingerbread recipes out there but this is my favourite. Heavily spiced and when cooked gives you gorgeous light and crisp biscuits. The dough is best prepared in advance, and then you can involve the children in rolling and cutting. 

Ingredients

• 170 g caster sugar

• 140 g golden syrup

• 100 ml milk

• 125 g butter

• 1 tsp ground cloves

• 1 ½ tsp ground cardamom

• 1 tbsp cinnamon

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 1 tsp allspice

• ½ tsp pepper

• ½ tsp salt

• 500 g flour

• 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

To Make

Place sugar, syrup, milk and butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved.

Take the pan off the heat and add all the spices. Allow to cool a little. Sift in the flour and bicarb and stir well until all is incorporated. Pour onto a large piece of cling film or beeswax wrap (make sure it is hand cool before pouring onto beeswax as otherwise the wax will melt) and shape into a log. Wrap well and store in the fridge for minimum 24 hrs before baking to allow the spices to develop (it keeps fine in the fridge for at least a week!).

Roll out using minimal flour and cut into shapes as desired.

Bake at 180 C 6-7 min depending on thickness – keep a close eye on them as they burn quickly!

Once cool, decorate with icing if desired. Mix 1 tbsp of lemon juice with about ½ cup of icing sugar. Add the icing sugar gradually, it should be quite thick to retain its shape when you pipe. Once icing is hard, store in an airtight container. 

Sophie Stensrud is an enthusiastic home cook, posting food and recipe ideas on Instagram @thescandicook hoping to inspire others. When not kept busy by her 3 and 4.5 year old boys, she studies for a BSc in Nutrition at King's College.

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