Thin, crisp gingerbread cookies spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and black pepper, baked through Advent and at the Doma laukums Christmas market.
Piparkūkas have been baked in Latvia since the medieval Hanseatic era, adapted from German lebkuchen and Scandinavian pepperkakor traditions. The black-pepper note in the spice blend gives the cookies their distinctive Latvian character. Every Latvian household bakes piparkūkas through Advent. The Doma laukums Christmas market, running late November through early January, runs 80+ stalls selling spiced gingerbread alongside mulled wine and smoked meats.
2 editor picks for Piparkūkas (Latvian gingerbread) in Riga, ranked by editorial score. All Riga signature dishes · Piparkūkas (Latvian gingerbread) across every city.
Liepkalni ★ 4.5
centrs · Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 62a, Rīga, LV-1013
Liepkalni's Krišjāņa Valdemāra branch is the central Riga outpost of the country's most-cited rye specialist, baking dark Dienas loaf and pīrāgi daily.
Centrāltirgus Pīrāgi Counters ★ 4.5
centraltirgus-maskavas · Nēģu iela 7, Rīga, LV-1050
The bakery pavilion at Centrāltirgus runs multiple counters baking traditional Latvian pīrāgi, bacon-onion pastry pockets that anchor a Latvian lunch.