Kringles

The first Christmas after the Hubster and I started dating, he took me to his Great Aunt Jeanie's house for their annual celebration. There were just a few of us there, Aunt Jeanie, my husband, his Uncle Mike, and his mother (and myself, of course). Since the Hubster was the only "kid" he got to request what kind of food was served. He requested a traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner (we didn't have lutefisk, so I'm not sure how traditional it actually was). What we did have was cod, potato pancakes, rosettes, and Kringles.

I learned that Kringles were a staple at pretty much ever single family gathering, and that Jeanie had learned how to make all of these delicious meals because her late husband was Norwegian.

After we had been dating a couple years, the Hubster mentioned that I should maybe learn how to make Kringles. He asked Jeanie if she would teach me (it was then that I knew he planned on marrying me, he thinks Kringles are special and that not just anyone should be able to make them).

Anyway, I learned how to make them but it has been years since my last batch. When I was doing my weekly grocery shopping I noticed that buttermilk was on sale and figured it was high time I tried my hand at them again, plus it gave me a chance to finally unpack my mixer!

Because the Hubster is so protective of these delightful little numbers, he doesn't like to share them, he also won't agree to let me give the recipe to anyone. I'm respecting his wishes for now, so I'll mention some ingredients but won't give any amounts. If you look for a recipe on google for Norwegian Kringles with Buttermilk, you should be able to find something similar. Don't be confused with the Danish Kringles, they're something else entirely, and my Kringles don't include sour cream.

Anyway, on with the show. First I creamed some butter, sugar, and eggs

When Jeanie first taught me how to make Kringles, she taught me to put the baking powder and baking soda in the buttermilk. This helps the powder and soda dissolve, and causes the buttermilk to foam. I think this is what gives the cookies their lovely texture.


After the sugar mixture is creamed, add the flour, flavoring extracts, salt,and buttermilk mixture until fairly smooth, but be sure not to overwork it! I then cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a bit.

I put my dough together at the same time I put together our lasagna for dinner, so it had a chance to rest with the lasagna was baking, this meant I didn't have to heat the oven up twice.

After the dough is chilled, take cookie sized portions (about a teaspoon) and roll them into long, pencil like logs

a well floured work surface and cold dough make this much easier.

Once the dough rope is long enough, shape in to a figure 8 or B (or pretzel, depending on how you personally view it)

The worst part is moving formed cookie onto the baking sheet from the pastry mat.

Bake at 350 until just barely golden brown along the edges. Honestly, it's best to take them out just shy of that, the texture is so nice and light if you pull them when they're just baked but not yet golden brown.

Our batch yielded about 3 dozen cookies, and Andrew isn't sure he's going to let me share them with anyone. Looks like I'm baking up another batch on Saturday!