Balletoman, did your try the ginger cookies yet?

Oh, not yet! Been really busy with work lately... will try later on. But I'd better hurry, as my DH has been gobbling up sugar/transfat/wheat-laiden ginger cookies from IKEA Thanks for the reminder

I have a recipe of my grandfather's for molasses cookies (he got it from the Times-Picayune newspaper years ago and tweaked it).  Now I'm thinking I'll tweak it further by substituting almond meal & some other kind of compliant flour for the wheat.  I've been meaning to try it for the past couple of weeks, but I hvaen't gotten around to it.  Maybe in time for New Year's, lol!  

Janssens Temptation is a regular feature of Christmases in our mixed Scandinavian extended family, so when I saw this I was intrigued. I can't imagine the older folks going for all of the substitutions, but I think if it were me I would try the following:

Parsnips intstead of potatoes or Sweedes (Swedes RE  lot stronger than either of the other two vegetables, and if you didn't overcook the parsnips they would retain a sweeter flavor and a texture closer to potatoes.

Butter for the oil-- it will make your "milk" more milky. I'd probably thicken it with a bit of arrowroot too so it has the thickness of cream. There is a whoelgrain rice milk our Kroger carries that isn't sweetened or flavored, so I would use it. I CAN'T do much cream, it makes me snotty within 20 minutes of ingesting, so I useually save my cream credits for whipped cream on deserts. But if I could I might to a combined cream and substitute cream thing. The flavor is really hard to replicate.

Use anchovies if they don't bother you. I love them, eat them VERY occasionally, and they "make" this dish-- in fact if there is one flavor that carries this dish that is it. I think anyone who is fond of it would forgive most of the other substitutions if there were anchovies in it!

Bekki, thanks for sharing. It's interesting to know that this tradition is being carried through in America as well. I might have to try the subs again next Christmas as I failed in the past one. The idea of using butter is an interesting one and it would probably make my dish less runny. The real thing without subs was a big hit again though and I did have two pieces.... used up all my quota and then some

About cream.....I, too, love it.  In fact, just got a tub of Brown Cow yogurt, and ate three spoons of the cream off the top, and have been feeling heavenly ever since.  I understand that yogurt is only a two or three times a week thing, but I will have a difficult time with that if it is in the fridge.....

So I had re-visited this thread looking for Christmas butter cookies, thinking some one might have experimented and posted.

Has anyone done this?

In my Dad's Danish household is was always a big part of Christmas. Also he loves plum and figgy puddings... Anyone tried these?