Icelandic Christmas cookie recipe – taste Yule like you are in Thule*

Christmas is a big deal here in Iceland. It is mainly the time for families and friends to get together. It is not unusual to be busy meeting people most days in December. Want to have a little taste of Icelandic Christmas wherever you are in the world? Read on to get a recipe for traditional Icelandic Christmas cookies. 

Food is at the core of Icelandic Christmas traditions

Christmas traditions are many here on our cold island, food being at the heart of many of them. Friend-groups and workplaces often go to Jólahlaðborð, a Christmas buffet that most restaurants serve in the advent-time. The actual Christmas celebration starts at 18 o’clock on Christmas eve, not on Christmas morning as is usual in the Anglo-Saxon world.

Prepare an Icelandic Christmas meal

Want to make a Christmas meal? I recommend buying the traditional Icelandic Christmas meat, or  ‘Hangikjöt’ smoked lamb. Get the already baked Laufabrauð, a wafer-thin leaf bread that has been carved with a knife and then deep-fried. 

But if you want to have a hand in the preparation yourself, I recommend baking cookies. A few Christmas cookies are baked at most Icelandic homes before Christmas. Advent is the time to enjoy them. 

Recipe for traditional Icelandic Christmas cookies

Here is a recipe for one of the most iconic Icelandic Christmas cookies. They are called Spesíur. Enjoy the cookies with a blend of Malt (non-alcoholic dark beer) and Appelsín orange soda. The mix is ESSENTIAL for traditional Icelandic Christmas. Easy to make and bake, try some Spesíur while staying in Iceland for Christmas!  Make the dough the day before baking! 

Recipe for the Christmas cookies

Spesíur:

400 gr butter (room temperature)
150 gr powdered sugar
All-purpose 500 gr flour
Chocolate buttons:

Stir well together with the butter and sugar. Add the flour slowly, and when blended, knead the dough. Divide the dough into three and roll into logs, not too wide. Refrigerate for the night. 

On the baking day, cut the logs into cookies, around 0.7 cm thick. Put the cookies on a baking sheet, add one chocolate button on top of each one and bake for 10 minutes in the oven, preheated to 180° Celcius. Add the one chocolate button to each cookie after the cookies are ready. Cool and enjoy.  

Bon appetit!

*Thule is an alleged ancient name for Iceland.