Swedish Wishing Cookies
My friend, Gladys, gave me a recipe for Swedish wishing cookies several years ago. Gladys knows a thing or two about cookies. Gladys and her husband owned two bakeries in the area in the 1930s through 1960 something. She will be 104 in January and she’s still living in the South Minneapolis home where she raised her family.
Why did it take me 5 years to try her recipe? I don’t really know. Oh, except that the past few years I’ve been knee-deep in child wrangling and have not had endless hours to devote to making cookies from scratch.
I finally tried her recipe, and I’m glad I did. It’s like a cross between a sugar cookie and gingerbread. It took me all day to make these cookies–the recipe makes 100 cookies–and it was so worth it.
The story behind Swedish wishing cookies is very sweet. Once baked and cooled, place your finger in the center of the cookie to break it. If it breaks into three pieces, make a wish, eat all three pieces without saying a word, and your wish will come true.
Swedish Wishing Cookies
Ingredients
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
2 T molasses
3 T water
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
For icing
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 T skim milk
Directions
- In a medium bowl, stir dry ingredients–flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg
- Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, beat butter until soft. Keep mixer running and add sugar and mix on low-speed until fluffy. Add egg, molasses, and lemon peel. Once mixed add water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Star cookie cutters work especially well for this recipe. Place cookies on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Cool.
- Mix icing ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until it is desired consistency. Pipe lacy designs on the cooled cookies. I used a round #3 tip and a pastry bag to pipe the designs.
I love these cookies. They are spicy, fragrant, and crisp. My daughters loved trying to break the cookies into three pieces and keep quiet to earn their wish. Make your holiday special, think of Gladys, and make Swedish wishing cookies.
