Rye Cookies
These Rye Cookies are an adaptation of a traditional Swedish holiday cookie. They’re not too sweet and have a special flavor from the rye flour and sprinkle of caraway seeds.
Table of contents
About this recipe
Swedish rye cookies are a delightful holiday tradition with deep roots in Scandinavian culture.
These crisp, cardamom-spiced treats are made with rye flour, giving them a hearty texture and a warm, nutty flavor.
Traditionally, the cookies are often used to decorate the Christmas tree. I love a simple round cookie, but you could certainly cut the cookies into trees, stars or other holiday shapes.
To turn the cookies into edible ornaments simply cut a small, off-center hole in each cookie. After baking, tie a pretty ribbon on the cookie to hang it on your tree.
The cookies stay fresh for days so you can steal a snack from the tree whenever the mood strikes.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Rye Flour – I used a medium rye flour to develop this recipe. But the recipe will work with any rye flour you have on hand.
- All Purpose Flour – Rye flour won’t develop gluten so you need some wheat (all purpose) flour to give the cookies some structure.
- Caraway Seeds – I absolutely adore the combination of rye and caraway seeds. They’re a nice surprising finish to a sweet cookie. That being said, you can skip the seeds if you don’t like them.
Process Photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and aerated.
- Add the dry ingredients. The dough may look a bit crumbly at this point. Finish kneading the dough together by hand.
- Roll the dough to 1/8″ thick and cut with a round cutter.
- Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. Reroll the scraps and continue cutting.
- If you want to use the cookies as a decoration, cut a small off-center hole in the cookie.
- Brush the cookies with egg white then sprinkle with caraway seeds and granulated sugar.
- Bake the cookies until they are lightly browned around the edges.
- Cool the cookies on a baking rack. Store in an air tight container at room temperature.
Work Ahead Tips
The dough can be wrapped in plastic and held in the refrigerator for 1-2 days or frozen for up to a month. Return the dough to room temperature before rolling.
The unbaked cookies can be frozen on the sheet pan then stacked into freezer bags. Remove the desired number of cookies from the freezer as you’re ready to bake. They can go straight from the freezer to the oven.
Storage
Rye cookies will keep for a week at room temperature in a tightly covered container.
More Cookie Recipes
More Rye Recipes
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Rye Cookies
Ingredients
- 5 ounces Rye Flour (1 cup, see note )
- 5 ounces all purpose flour ( 1 cup)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 8 ounces unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 4 ounces granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 1 large egg whites
- caraway seeds (for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 5 ounces Rye Flour, 5 ounces all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon table salt and ½ teaspoon ground cardamom. Set the bowl aside.
- In a mixer bowl, cream 8 ounces unsalted butter with 4 ounces granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. At this point the dough might look crumbly. Use your hands to knead the dough together. (See note)
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to ⅛" thick. Use a 2½" round cookie cutter to cut as many cookies as you can. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting until all the dough is used. If you plan to use the cookies as a tree decoration, cut a ½" hole off-center in each cookie. (See post content for more information.)
- Line the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving ½" between cookies. (See note.) Lightly brush each cookie with egg white. Sprinkle lightly with caraway seeds and granulated sugar.
- Bake until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges and the dough is set, about 8-10 minutes.
- Slide the parchment paper or silicone mat onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
- The cookies will keep in an air tight container for about a week.
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