It's been a while since I discussed a biscuit/cookie, so here we are. The one I'll cover today is Annas Swedish Thins, which are ginger-flavored. And no, I didn't forget the apostrophe at the end of "Annas"--for some reason the company doesn't use one. Which kind of bugs me. But let's move on.
The roots of the Annas company go back to 1929, in a neighborhood of Stockholm, Sweden. Anna and Emma Karlsson had a home bakery, and started making biscuits and other baked goods. Their Swedish Thins became hugely popular, and the business took off. In 1963 Annas was sold to the Mattsson family, and in 2008 it was bought up by Lotus Bakeries, out of Belgium. I've encountered Lotus before, as they also make Biscoff cookies--see my post on November 2, 2019 for more information. The Swedish Thins are also known as pepparkaka, which means "gingerbread," or alternately, "spicy biscuits" in Swedish. Evidently the spice in them used to be literally pepper, but in modern times the biscuits get their bite from ginger and cinnamon. Annas can be found in about 35 countries around the globe, including Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the U.K., Israel, Japan, the Scandinavian countries, and various places in Southeast Asia. Alternate flavors of their Thins include an orange and almond variety. Some sources claim the company also makes a cappuccino one--maybe it's seasonal, or new. For those that care about such things, Annas was selected as an appointed purveyor to the Royal Court of Sweden in 2002, which reportedly is an honor held by only about 130 Swedish firms. The Frequently Asked Questions section on the Annas website states that their products do not contain milk, eggs, soy, soy lethicin, or trans fats. But they may contain almonds. (Especially the Almond Thins, clearly!)
The history of ginger thins themselves is not conclusively known. Presumably way more than one chef decided to put some ginger in their biscuit dough at various times in history, so there probably wasn't one true inventor. With that admitted, there is evidence that they were being made in Germany as of the 1300's. In Sweden, there's a reference to nuns in Vadstena eating them as of 1444. The Swedish-Norwegian King Hans (reigned 1497-1501) was assigned ginger thins by his physician to curb his alleged bad temper. (Note--modern scientific research has not proven that ginger cookies can actually do this, alas.) By the 1500's or so pepperkaka were beginning to be sold commercially in Sweden.
Annas Swedish Thins, ginger flavored: These were a brown color, and roundish in shape, with scalloped edges. About 6 cm. (about 2.25 inches) in diameter, and very thin, as advertised. Unfortunately, they were reminiscent of quite a few European cookies/biscuits that I've had over the years, as their taste was bland. So, as often happens, they weren't bad, but they weren't very good, either. I really enjoy ginger in general, so I would have liked to taste a nice spicy bite, but these were just kind of dull. Perhaps it's my "Ugly American" palate again--I seem to prefer my sweets to be very sweet, my sours to be very sour, etc., for flavors to be significant and strong, and not subtle. Usually, anyway.
These cookies are associated with Christmas in Sweden. Additionally, there's a light-hearted superstition about them. Supposedly, you should hold one of the biscuits in your hand, and then press on it. If the cookie breaks into 3 pieces, you are rewarded with a wish. Sadly, I didn't read about this supernatural power until the box of Annas was finished. So I guess we'll have to wait at least until my next shopping trip for world peace, Salma Hayek's divorce and then quick remarriage to me, and the Philadelphia Eagles starting their run of 50 straight Super Bowl victories. And, maybe I'll use one of my wishes to force Annas to start using apostrophes in their name.
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