Traditional Danish Fedtebrød – Coconut Cookie Slices with Rum Glaze – beautifully short buttery cookies packed with desiccated coconut and topped with a rum glaze.
I’m so excited to share these Danish Fedtebrød – Coconut Cookie Slices with Rum Glaze with you today!
My mum found my Danish grandmother’s Saffir Mel (flour) collection of cookie recipes down the back of a shelf the other day.
The recipes were printed on thin magazine paper, A5 in size and very faded so I borrowed the booklet and scanned it in to my computer.
On flicking through all the recipes one stood out to my mum, Danish Fedtebrød.
After school mum said she’d often pop into the local bakery and put one or two of these Coconut Cookie Slices on her mum’s tab. I can imagine what a fabulous treat this was for a hungry school girl!
So I set about making the Danish Fedtebrød with pretty scant instructions but imagined the size I was aiming for would be quite big if they were sold in a store.
I also had to improvise with the hjørtetaksalt as it translates as bicarbonate ammonium which we don’t have in the UK so mum said to use bicarbonate of soda.
The original recipe used a specific brand of margarine but I changed that to butter and it also called for rum essence but I only had real rum and couldn’t find any rum essence in my local supermarket.
Mum had never made these Danish Fedtebrød but her mother made them for her as a child so I was really intrigued to try them. I’m not the biggest fan of desiccated coconut but I really like these cookies and the rum flavoured glaze was subtle and not overpowering.
My family loved the cookies and I ended up making a couple of batches over 2 days.
I mixed my first batch of Danish Fedtebrød by hand and made them a bit too big. On day 2 I made them a bit smaller and as I had a cut finger I decided to use my food processor which made the rubbing in and mixing last a couple of minutes rather than ten or so.
However after tasting both batches I think the hand mixed cookies with their course short texture had more character than the machine mixed ones where the desiccated coconut was ground down further.
However opinion was divided in the family over which was best so if you’re pushed for time or find rubbing in difficult then do use your food processor.
Do you have to use rum in the glaze?
If you don’t like the idea of rum then you can substitute if for lemon juice instead and not need to add any water.
More Scandinavian or coconut cookie recipes
I do hope you try these Danish Fedtebrød with an afternoon cuppa, they are incredibly short and buttery with just the right amount of added sweetness from the rum glaze. Here are some more cookies I’m sure you’ll love!
- Finsk Brød – Fab Food 4 All
- Danish Vanilla Wreaths – Fab Food 4 All
- Marzipan Macaroons – Tin & Thyme
- Chocolate & Vanilla Coconut Butter Cookies – Family Friends Food
- 4 Ingredient Hazelnut Cookies – Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
As this is an old family recipe I am entering these Danish Fedtebrød into Inheritance Recipes over at Pebble Soup which is also run by Coffee & Vanilla.
Pin for later!
Danish Fedtebrød – Coconut Cookie Slices with Rum Glaze
Ingredients
- 125 g plain flour
- ¼ tsp hjørtetaksalt or bicarbonate of soda
- 125 g unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 65 g dessicated coconut
- 65 g granulated sugar
- For Rum glaze:
- 150 g icing sugar
- 2 tsp rum* or rum essence to taste
- 2 - 3 tsp water or enough to form a glaze if using essence
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.
- Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
- Sift the flour and bicarbonate or soda into a bowl.
- Rub in the butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the sugar and dessicated coconut and mix well.
- Use your hands to form a dough.
- Divide mixture into 3 equal portions.
- Take one portion and squeeze into a long sausage shape and place on baking paper.
- Use your hands to shape into a long rectangle about 5.5 cm by 27 cm.
- Then repeat with the other 2 portions and space apart well on baking sheet as they will spread.
- Bake on middle shelf of oven for 10 minutes (or until golden).
- Make up the glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the rum and water.
- When the cookies are ready and whilst still warm, spoon the glaze down the middle of each length and then make diagonal cuts.
- Transfer to a cooling rack.
- Store in an air tight container.
Andrew
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My mom made a very similar recipe and it was my favorite Christmas cookie every year. She passed a while ago and I couldn’t find the recipe. This is as close it could be. Thanks for helping me recreate this so I could share it with family and friends.
Camilla
Aww Andrew, I’m so sorry to hear about your mother passing but happy that I could help connect you to happy Christmas baking memories. Wishing you a Happy Christmas. x
Karen
These Danish cookies are new to me – thanks for sharing the recipe!
Camilla
Excellent Karen:-)
Chandice Probst
What a delicious bar it’s unique and fun! Easy to follow recipe, thank you so much!
Camilla
Thank you so much Chandice:-)
Holly
I am so happy to find this recipe! My mother and I used to frequent a little Danish village in California in th U.S.A. (I am now 60). There was one small bakery that had these delights, and I got them every time we went. A late night trip down memory lane led me to you – thank you!
Camilla
Aaw, that’s such a lovely story. So glad this recipe brought you joy:-) I hope you get to make them now:-)
Lori
These look good! Just thinking I might have seen some in the supermarket the other day!
Camilla
Thank you. Are you in Denmark? I’ve never seen these in any supermarket.
Beks
These cookies look yummy and I’m equally excited that Christmas is just around the corner!
Camilla
Thanks Beks:-)
Malissa
These were delicious and easy. My family loved them! Thanks for the great recipe.
Camilla
Excellent, so glad you liked them:-)
Sophie Anderson
yummy for my tummy! : )
Whits@amusebouche
Just this side of heaven.
Camilla
Thank you:-)
Anthony Allen
Excellent, simple recipe that yields delicious results
Camilla
Glad you like them:-)