Danish Pebernødder (pepper nuts... or pepper cookies)

Pebernødder, served on traditional Danish Christmas porcelain from Royal Copenhagen

The first time I had these delectable Danish cookies was in Copenhagen, just a few days before Christmas. Thor took me to Hviids Vinstue, a 300 year old tavern where Hans Christian Andersen was known to frequent. They're known for their glög or mulled wine, which is outstanding, but I also remember the large glass bowls of pebernørdder for eating with the warm drink.  Danes celebrate Christmas better than anyone else and their traditions are long standing. Everywhere we went there were plates of cookies to be served with a cup of coffee or some glög.

Hviids Vinstue

a cozy corner inside of Hviids Vinstue

These Danish Pebernødder, translated as pepper nuts, are in my opinion the perfect Christmas cookie.  They're bite sized, not too sweet, and spiced to perfection. They're traditionally the size of a hazlenut and quite crunchy. I've tinkered with the recipe over the years to soften the cookie just a bit, and I make it just a little bit larger so you really get a mouthful of spice.

Merry Christmas

Glædelig Jul ! 

company is coming!

and I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off...

In fact,  I actually love having house guests.  I bake for days in advance, and stock the refrigerator with stinky cheeses, olives, and homemade pesto's.  Notice the fennel bulbs on the counter next to the cookie dough -  complete chaos. 

I'm halfway through 6 dozen chocolate cookies.  These are, in fact, THE BEST chocolate chip cookies - ever.  I came across this recipe last May, when my friend Rachel documented them in her blog, Erstwhile dear.  She and her husband, Joe, created a visual guide to the recipe, which went on to win America's Test Kitchen's Boston Blogger Cookie Challenge Winners!  Over the last year I've made these cookies at least a dozen times,  and each time they are declared " THE BEST  cookies 'I've' ever had!"  I always make sure to keep several bags of Ghiradelli Chocolate morsels,  semisweet, bittersweet and dark, in my pantry at all times.  One never knows when you'll need to whip up a batch of these cookies.  This recipe is always a sure thing. The only thing I've added is to sprinkle a dash of sea salt on the dough balls before baking.