Fork Biscuits - Haarukkaleivät

My mom has baked Fork biscuits (haarukka=fork, leivät= breads) for as  long as I can remember. They are actually one my oldest's  favourite treats and one of my favourite recipes. The recipe is not complicated at all, it does not require many ingredients - mostly just basic ones which can almost always be found  in the pantry.

These biscuits have that childhood flavour in them and they reminded me of this old doll I got when I was tiny. The doll carries a lot of memories and stitches. It does not only remind of these biscuits but it also reminds me of my granddad who died almost 30 years ago. When I visited him at the hospital for the very last time I left this doll for him. So in a way I was with him till the end and he was with me.

It is funny thing that so many memories are connected with baking. Different scents bring different memories and today this was the memory that floated into my mind. It's a dear memory.


200 grams (7.055 oz) soft butter
175 grams (6.173 oz)  sugar  
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla sugar
2 tsp baking powder
490 -  520 grams (1.080 -  1.146 lb) all-purpose flour


1. Beat the sugar and butter into a foam.
2. Mix the dry ingredients and add them into the butter-sugar mix.
3. Divide the dough to two pieces and make a "rope" which you divide into 20 pieces. You should have about 40 pieces from the two "ropes".
4. Shape them into balls and put them on the papered baking tray.
5. Do the same things to the second piece of the dough.
6. Once the all biscuits are on the baking tray press a fork pattern on each. Then another one from another direction so that the patterns will cross.  Please, see the photo to get a better idea.
7. Bake in the center of the oven in 225 °C (450°F) for about 7-9 minutes.

Many times we make the biscuits bigger than these. Then this recipe makes only about 20 biscuits but they are really great like that. Then you need to bake them a little longer 10-15 minutes should make it.