Name: Pepparkakor (Swedish Thin Gingersnaps)
Yield: about 60 to 80 small cut-outs
Cuisine: Sweden
Ingredients: 80 ml water; 1 tbsp Danish or Swedish dark syrup, or molasses; 1½ tsp ground cloves; 1½ tsp ground cinnamon; 1½ tsp ground ginger; 9 g baking soda; a pinch of salt; 190 g scant 1 cup granulated sugar; 105 g butter, at room temperature; 300 g all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

Method

Spice syrup. Boil the water (80 ml⅓ cup), dark syrup (1 tbsp), cloves (1½ tsp), cinnamon (1½ tsp), ginger (1½ tsp), baking soda (9 g1½ tsp) and salt together for 1 minute, stirring; it will foam. Let stand about 5 minutes, until lukewarm.
Dough. Beat the butter (105 g7½ tbsp) and sugar (190 g) together, then beat in the lukewarm spice syrup. Work in the flour (300 g2½ cups) until the dough is smooth and shiny.
Rest. Wrap and refrigerate at least overnight. Up to 2 weeks is traditional, and the flavor deepens.
Roll. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Let the dough soften slightly, then roll it very thin, about 2 mm, on a floured surface or between parchment.
Bake. Cut shapes and set them on parchment-lined sheets. Bake on the middle rack 5 to 7 minutes, until evenly browned. Watch closely; they go from done to burnt fast.
Cool on a rack. They crisp as they cool.

Notes

Thickness is everything. Thin dough gives the snap; at ⅛ inch or more they bake up softer.
Syrup. Dark syrup is the Scandinavian standard and milder than molasses. For a darker cookie, use up to 2 tbsp and add a spoonful more flour if the dough is sticky.
Finnish piparkakut are the same cookie, often with ground cardamom and a little grated orange peel added to the spices.
Storage. Airtight, they keep for weeks.
Pippi Longstocking rolls out a huge batch of these on her kitchen floor in Astrid Lindgren's first Pippi book (1945).