“Finskbrød”, meaning "Finnish bread", is a mouthwatering Danish Christmas treat. I bake these butter biscuits every year around Christmas and also at other times of the year. It is, you see, a very simple little cookie with a sweet and buttery taste. What is there not to like?
These are real “Danish butter cookies,” which makes the name “Finnish bread” even more peculiar. I’ve never seen anything like it in Finland.
Nobody seems to really know why this type of “bread” is “Finnish”. The Danish pastry historian Betinna Buhl explains that the famous Danish cookbook writer Frøken Jensen might have gotten the inspiration for the recipe, that is first found in her 1901 cookbook, during one of her trips abroad (perhaps to Finland, who knows?).
Ingredients:
(Makes about 100 biscuits)
Dough:
250 g butter
6 dl wheat flour
1.5 dl sugar
For brushing:
1 egg
To sprinkle on top:
1 dl almond flakes or blanched and chopped almonds
1 dl pearl sugar (or normal sugar)
Directions:
Crumble butter with the flour to a uniform mixture with a consistency like grated cheese. Add sugar and mix by hand or knead until you have gathered the dough - not more.
Let the dough rest in a cold place for half an hour, if you have time.
Roll the dough into finger-thick sticks (or try to make a longish shape, in case you didn’t have time to cool the dough and it is hard to roll it).
Cut the stick into about 3 cm. long pieces.
Mix almonds and pearl sugar on a plate.
Brush the raw biscuits with whisked egg or dip them in the egg mixture. Sprinkle the almond and sugar mixture on top or turn them in the mixture till they are covered.
Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake at 200C for 8 minutes or so, until they are golden.
Cool down and enjoy the buttery sensation in your mouth!
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