Winter & Christmas

Jødekager

Jødekager are thin, round butter biscuits brushed with egg before baking and sprinkled with a mixture of pearl sugar, cinnamon and chopped almonds. They are quick to make, keep well and are a fixture on the Danish Christmas plate.

Round jødekager sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon
Photo: Sindum / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Preparation
30 min
Cooking/baking time
8 min
Servings
approx. 60 biscuits
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

Dough

Topping

Method

  1. Mix the flour, baker's ammonia (or baking powder) and sugar. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until crumbly. Add the egg and quickly bring together into a smooth dough.
  2. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (conventional). Mix the pearl sugar, cinnamon and chopped almonds.
  4. Roll out the dough in batches on a floured surface to about 2–3 mm thick and cut out rounds with a 6 cm cutter.
  5. Place the biscuits on a tray lined with baking paper, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with the sugar, cinnamon and almond mixture.
  6. Bake for 6–8 minutes until the edges are light brown. Cool on a wire rack and store in a biscuit tin.

The story behind the dish

Jødekager are a classic Danish Christmas biscuit. The name dates from the 18th century and is traced back to Jewish bakeries.

The biscuit's present form, however, is Danish in origin: a recipe in the familiar form is known from 1856.

Enjoy it at Dansk Cottage

Jødekager are the perfect biscuit to bake with children: cutting out, brushing and sprinkling is fun for everyone at the cottage kitchen table.

The cottage kitchen · Discover Søby · Experience Ærø

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In the mood for Denmark?

Dansk Cottage near Søby can be booked from spring 2027 – with a spacious kitchen for exactly this kind of dish.

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