Name: Pebernødder (Danish Pepper Nuts)
Yield: about 120 tiny cookies
Cuisine: Denmark
Ingredients: 125 g butter, softened; 125 g granulated sugar; ½ tsp ground ginger; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; ½ tsp ground white pepper; ½ tsp ground cardamom; ½ tsp baker's ammonia, or ½ tsp baking soda plus ½ tsp baking powder; 250 g all-purpose flour; 50 ml heavy cream

Ingredients

Scale

Pan sizes, times and temperatures in the method are not scaled.

125 g9 tbspbutter, softened
125 g⅝ cupgranulated sugar
½ tspground ginger
½ tspground cinnamon
½ tspground white pepper
½ tspground cardamom
½ tspbaker's ammonia, or ½ tsp baking soda plus ½ tsp baking powder
250 g2 cupsall-purpose flour
50 ml3½ tbspheavy cream

Method

Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line baking sheets with parchment.
Beat the butter (125 g9 tbsp) and sugar (125 g⅝ cup) together.
Whisk the spices, baker's ammonia (½ tsp), crushing any lumps, and flour (250 g2 cups), and mix them in.
Add the heavy cream (50 ml3½ tbsp) gradually and mix until the dough just holds together.
Roll into finger-thick ropes, about ½ inch (1 cm). Cut into ½-inch pieces, rolling each into a ball if you like.
Space them on the sheets and bake about 8 minutes, until golden. Watch closely; they burn quickly.
Cool completely on a rack.

Notes

Baker's ammonia bakes out of small, dry cookies like these. Don't taste the dough raw.
Softer version. Rub cold butter into the flour, use brown sugar, baking powder and milk, and bake at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes.
Storage. In an airtight tin, for weeks.