Kringla
These somewhat pretzel shaped Scandinavian butter cookies with a powdered sugar topping are excellent for holidays or anytime of year. (A true pretzel shape has an additional twist at the top center that does not work out so well for cookies).
Yield: approximately 3 dozen cookies
¾ cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
¾ cup buttermilk, divided
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon almond extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar (see below for other non-traditional variations)
Cream together butter and sugar.
Add ½ cup of the buttermilk, the egg yolks, and almond extract. Whisk until the batter is smooth.
Add the remaining ¼ cup buttermilk and the baking soda. Stir just until combined.
Sift together 1 cup of the flour and the baking powder. Add to the buttermilk mixture and whisk until smooth.
Sift the remaining flour and a pinch of salt together.
Gradually add the remaining sifted flour to the buttermilk mixture, stirring after each addition, until well mixed.
Cover and chill the cookie dough for 4 to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Remove only small portions of the dough from the refrigerator at a time so that it remains cold and easier to work with. If it becomes too soft and difficult to work with, cover and return to the refrigerator to chill.
On a very lightly floured surface, drop 1 rounded tablespoon of the cold cookie dough. Roll into about an 8 or 9 inch long rope. Curl one end around and down then the other end crossing it over the first and carefully press to seal without over flattening. (See image above) Repeat until all of the remaining dough has been used.
Place the cookies about 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake just until starting to lightly brown — anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Monitor very closely since individual oven temperatures can vary by as much as 25 F degrees and the bake time will vary at different altitudes.
Slide the parchment paper carefully with cookies on it from the cookie sheet onto a clean towel. Cover the cookies with another clean lint free linen cup towel.
Allow to cool completely while covered.
Dip only the tops of the cookies into a dish of powdered sugar to coat. Alternately, hold a small fine wire strainer above the cookie and shake while slowly adding a teaspoon of powdered sugar or use a powdered sugar shaker.
For an even softer, fluffier cookie version use only 1/2 cup of buttermilk mixed together with 1/4 cup of sour cream.
Decorative Variations:
Instead of the traditional powdered sugar topping —
Top with sparkling clear decorative sugar crystals (large AA size) before placing on prepared cookie sheet to bake.
— OR —
After baked and cooled, dip the bottom only in tempered chocolate. Place on waxed paper until chocolate has fully set at room temperature. (See my link below for properly tempering chocolate to avoid having the chocolate dipped cookies from melting too quickly in your hands when eating).
Instead of the traditional pretzel shape —
Curl the rope of cookie dough around in an increasing sized circular pattern forming a spiral or snail’s shell shape.
— OR —
Fold the rope in half and circle or snake the two halves around one another to form a twist then pinch the two loose ends together.
Properly Tempering Chocolate
Kringla
Scandinavian butter cookies with a powdered sugar topping.
Instructions
-
.
Kringla
These somewhat pretzel shaped Scandinavian butter cookies with a powdered sugar topping are excellent for holidays or anytime of year. (A true pretzel shape has an additional twist at the top center that does not work out so well for cookies).
Yield: approximately 3 dozen cookies
¾ cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
¾ cup buttermilk, divided
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon almond extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar (see below for other non-traditional variations)
Cream together butter and sugar.
Add ½ cup of the buttermilk, the egg yolks, and almond extract. Whisk until the batter is smooth.
Add the remaining ¼ cup buttermilk and the baking soda. Stir just until combined.
Sift together 1 cup of the flour and the baking powder. Add to the buttermilk mixture and whisk until smooth.
Sift the remaining flour and a pinch of salt together.
Gradually add the remaining sifted flour to the buttermilk mixture, stirring after each addition, until well mixed.
Cover and chill the cookie dough for 4 to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Remove only small portions of the dough from the refrigerator at a time so that it remains cold and easier to work with. If it becomes too soft and difficult to work with, cover and return to the refrigerator to chill.
On a very lightly floured surface, drop 1 rounded tablespoon of the cold cookie dough. Roll into about an 8 or 9 inch long rope. Curl one end around and down then the other end crossing it over the first and carefully press to seal without over flattening. (See image above) Repeat until all of the remaining dough has been used.
Place the cookies about 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake just until starting to lightly brown -- anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Monitor very closely since individual oven temperatures can vary by as much as 25 F degrees and the bake time will vary at different altitudes.
Slide the parchment paper carefully with cookies on it from the cookie sheet onto a clean towel. Cover the cookies with another clean lint free linen cup towel.
Allow to cool completely while covered.
Dip only the tops of the cookies into a dish of powdered sugar to coat. Alternately, hold a small fine wire strainer above the cookie and shake while slowly adding a teaspoon of powdered sugar or use a powdered sugar shaker.
Leave a Reply