Gingerbread Cookie Day in Sweden Date in the current year: December 9, 2025

Gingerbread cookies, also known as gingersnaps, ginger nuts or ginger biscuits, are thin cookies flavored with powdered ginger and other spices and sweetened with sugar, honey, or molasses. In Sweden, they are called pepparkakor, which literally means “pepper cookies”. It is unclear why gingerbread cookies are called pepper cookies in Sweden. One theory is that they were originally flavored with pepper. Another theory is that at the time these cookies were created, all exotic spices were called “pepper”.

Gingerbread has been around since the Middle Ages. For example, the first mention of Toruń gingerbread from Poland dates from 1380, but gingerbread was probably known long before that. There are records of gingerbread being imported to Sweden in the 16th century. However, homemade gingerbread was uncommon in Sweden until the 18th century. In the 19th century, gingerbread cookies became associated with winter holidays: Advent, Saint Lucy’s Day and Christmas.

There is a Swedish myth that eating gingerbread makes you nice, but its origins are unclear. According to one theory, the Scandinavian King John (Hans) was prescribed gingerbread by the court physician for his bad mood. Another theory is that pearl ash (potassium carbonate), once used as a leavening agent in gingerbread, helped alleviate stomach aches caused by overindulging in Christmas food, making people kinder.

Swedish gingerbread cookies are typically hard, thin, and brittle. The dough is flavored with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, sweetened with granulated sugar or sugar syrup, and leavened with sodium bicarbonate. It is then rolled out and cookies are cut out with cookie cutters. Christmas gingerbread cookies are usually shaped like stars, hearts, pigs (an ancient symbol of fertility), Yule goats, Christmas trees, and people. They can be plain or decorated with royal icing.

Traditional thin and hard gingerbread cookies are usually served with hot or cold drinks such as milk, cocoa, tea, or coffee. When served with mulled wine (glögg), they may be accompanied by blue cheese. In Swedish cuisine, there are also larger and softer gingerbread cookies known as smörgåspepparkakor, lunchpepparkakor, or skånepepparkakor. They are sometimes served with skim milk, or with butter and cheese or honey with coffee or tea.

Swedish cookie brand Annas Pepparkakor, which supplies its gingerbread cookies to the Royal Court under a royal warrant of appointment, created Gingerbread Cookie Day in 2006, although some sources claim it has been celebrated since 1996, which is a common misconception. The brand chose to celebrate it on December 9 because it is Anna’s Day in Sweden, and thus Gingerbread Cookie Day coincides with Lutefisk Day, which celebrates another Christmas staple of Swedish cuisine.