Happy First Sunday of Advent

Advent is the start of the Christmas season in many countries inclusive in Denmark and in my home in the city Barcelona. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. Advent is also used as a countdown to Christmas Day.

Advent is a term from the Latin word ‘adventus’ which means “arrival”.

It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming of Jesus to earth when he was born as a baby at Bethlehem about two thousand years ago.

Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to 30th November (St. Andrew’s Day) the 1. of December yhis year and it last´s until midnight on Christmas Eve. Advent Sunday is the first of the four Sundays before the 25th December.

In my family the tradition is a little less religious. Our Advent traditions is to enjoy each others company, create a beautiful pine Advent wreath with four candles in (we light up one candle for each Sunday in Advent) and on the first Sunday in Advent our tradition is also to bake many yummmmy Christmas biscuits.

My plan for today The first Sunday of Advent is to bake these little Gluten-free Pepper nuts and Gluten-free Vanillekranse vanilla biscuits (circle/wreaths shaped biscuits with a wonderful flavor of vanilla and almonds). I will post the recipe for the Vanillekranse later because I need to change and adjust some of my grandma’s good old traditional recipe so that the vanillekranse becomes gluten-free. 🙂

Pepper nuts (Pebernødder) is a Danish Christmas biscuit. They have been made for Christmas in Denmark since more likely forever.

They were/can be made of rye or wheat flour, sweetened with honey or syrup and added spices like ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and pepper.

…And luckily for me they also can be make in a gluten free version, yummmm. For me it’s not a real Christmas without Pepper nuts 🙂

Recipe:

125 grams of butter
125 grams of sugar
250 grams gluten-free flour
1 tsp. soda
0.5-1 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp. kardemome
0.5 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of white pepper
1 small egg (organic).

Combine wet ingredients, then add dry ingredients and mix well until you get a form dough.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each piece into thumb sized rolls, and cut into 1/2 slices. Roll all the slices into little delicate nut-like balls (pepper nuts).

Put the pepper nuts on a baking sheet and bake them for 20 minutes at 350° or until they are golden and they look Christmasly Crunchy;)

Keep an eye on them while baking and the baking time determines a little on how soft or hard you like your pepper nuts, I prefer them crunchy.

Happy First Sunday of Advent:)