Croatian Paprenjaci (Black Pepper Cookies) Recipe

Paprenjaci is a traditional Croatian cookie consisting of flour, eggs, butter, sugar, honey, walnuts and spices. The ingredients are mixed into a cookie dough which is shaped and can be decorated before baking. They are baked until golden.

Paprenjaci cookies are usually ornate. The pliable dough makes it easy to stamp or mold. When using a traditional mold, it is placed over the rolled-out cookie dough and pressed. This causes the dough to push up into the mold, taking the shape of the design.

The cookies are then cut using a knife since the mold presses the dough but does not cut all the way through.

Paprenjaci cookies are also known as black pepper cookies, but this is just one variation and not all paprenjaci are made with black pepper. Paorenjaci comes from the word ‘papar’ which means pepper, though it was once used to mean spice in general. Papar spice is a mix including cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

The two main variations of paprenjaci are Zavr and Zagreb. Havr does not contain black pepper and is made with prosek, a sweet dessert wine and sometimes saffron. They often appear decorated with icing sugar. The second type is paprenjaci Zagreb and is made with walnuts, papar spice and black pepper.

Origin and Cultural Significance

It’s unclear when paprenjaci originated but they date back to at least the 16^th century. They are popular as a Christmas cookie and are the equivalent to a spice cookie.

They are also popular with tourists and are sold all over, including airports where they are packaged to buy as a souvenir.

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Croatian Paprenjaci (Black Pepper Cookies) Recipe

Yield: 16 Servings

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 52 minutes

Paprenjaci is a traditional Croatian cookie consisting of flour, eggs, butter, sugar, honey, walnuts and spices.

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Ingredients

• Eggs - 2
• Sugar - 1 1/4 cups
• Honey - 3/4 cup
• Butter - 2 sticks
• Pork fat - 1 tbsp
• Walnuts - 3 3/4 cups
• Flour - 7 cups
• Cinnamon (ground) - 3 tbsp
• Nutmeg (ground) - 1 tbsp
• Black pepper (ground) - 1 tbsp
• Cloves (ground) - 6
• Cardamom (ground) - 1 pinch
• Lemon - 1 peel

Instructions

1. Whisk the butter and pork fat together till it becomes foamy
2. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the flour and combine well.
3. Add the flour, little by little.
4. Mix the dough until it starts to fall off your fingers (it will take some time)
5. Allow the dough to rest for 2 hours in the refrigerator, wrapped in cling film.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it between two pieces of parchment paper.
8. Roll out the dough - do not add flour to the surface.
9. Flip the dough over several times as you roll it.
10. Roll to the thickness of about 1/2 cm, then using wooden molds or a glass, or another type of small cookie cutter, cut out the cookies to your desired shape. (If you have the traditional wooden mold, gently press it over the dough, so it shapes the different textures and then use a knife to cut out the cookies as the wooden mold doesn’t cut them all the way through)
11. Place the cookies on a greased and dusted baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes and they turn golden.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 596Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 105mgCarbohydrates: 77gFiber: 5gSugar: 30gProtein: 11g

Nutrition is provided and calculated by Nutritionix. It is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimation.