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Eggnog Kringla

Eggnog Kringla

Eggnog Kringla

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Eggnog Kringla
4.4 rating based on 12,345 ratings
4.4/5 (7)
Course: Hand-Shaped CookiesCuisine: Norway, Sweden, See note*Difficulty: Medium
Servings

60

cookies
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A soft and pillowy cookie of supposed Norwegian and/or Swedish origin (see note*, below) Kringla are shaped like a pretzel before baking. This recipe is updated with eggnog spices.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 3/4 cup butter at room temperature

  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 cup dairy or nondairy eggnog

  • sifted powder sugar

  • ground nutmeg

Directions

  • In large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream butter, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Add the flour mix and eggnog alternately to the sugar/butter mix. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. Dough may still be sticky but it is a soft dough.
  • Preheat oven to 350F. Take out half the dough at a time (leaving rest in the fridge). On a lightly floured surface, take one tablespoon of the dough and roll into a rope shape (about 1/2 inch thick and 8 inches long) On an ungreased cookie sheet, place the rope in a loop, cross one end over the other. Make the shape slightly oval. Bake 6 to 8 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Remove cookies and cool on wire rack. While still warm, sprinkle tops with powdered sugar and nutmeg.

Notes

  • * Kringla cookies are practically unknown in Norway/Sweden today! They are family traditions for many North Americans of Swedish and Norwegian descent, but they are not, today, a Scandinavian tradition. This was confirmed to me by a Norwegian cultural historian, a Norwegian chef and a couple of Norwegian foodies (who were all mystified by Americans insisting that this Kringla is a Norwegian national culinary treasure while they themselves have never seen it in Norway). The words Kringle and Kringla (in Norse and Swedish respectively) refer to a savory pretzel, not a cookie. Sukkerkringler look somewhat similar in photos but it is a yeast dough topped with sugar.

    Two possibilities exist:
    – That Kringla cookies are indeed from some local region of Norway or Sweden, but they only became popular once reaching the US, and they died out in Scandinavia or at the very least, never reached widespread popularity there.
    – That Kringla cookies were developed in the USA by recent immigrants from Scandinavia
    There is no way to really know!

    If you want a Norwegian cookie that is traditional in Norway today , try Krumkake, Berlinerkranser, Fattigmann, Goro, Peperkaker.
  • Photo courtesy of Peaceful Cooking, used with permission. Head on over to her excellent blog post about these Eggnog Kringla, with lovely photos of all the steps required to make them.

Reviews

Name & Location
(example: Sue in LA)
Rating
Review

★★★★★
One trick I use when I'm in a hurry is to flatten the dough in a gallon plastic re-closable bag and put it in the freezer to get cold. That reduces the 4 hour wait to about 25 minutes.
- Colleen in Azusa

★★★★★
Everyone loves these and asked for them yr after yr ❤️?
- Annette currier

★★★★★
I love these cookies. I don't shape them anymore, I just drop them by rounded teaspoon and bake for 9-12 minutes.
- Shannon

★★★★★
My Mom was 100% Norwegian. She made kringla every Christmas time. So do I now. I made this eggnog kringla recipe with extra fresh nutmeg in it and it turned out great! I like to brush the tops of the uncooked cookies with a mixture of egg whites and a little water. Then I sprinkle turbinado sugar on top for extra crunch and sweetness! Plus the sugar crystals resemble a pretty frost on top! These cookies do take time to shape, but no more than any other cookie that needs to be shaped. I tried a shortcut this time though. I tried the dough in my cookie press! It didn't really save me much time because I had to press the dough into the cookie press and it was harder to operate with this thicker dough. But the advantage was that all of my cookies were uniform in size. And it was a bit faster, but not much. I used the flat metal disk with a pencil-sized hole in the middle of it. (The tube attachments didn't work.) I pressed out all of the dough at one time into a floured surface. Then I cut it into 6 inch lengths, rolled them in the flour they were already on, and shaped them. I loaded the cookie press 4 or 5 times and used lots of hand strength to help the press work. Lots of dough stuck to my hands after each time loading the press. (But I didn't add any more flour than the recipe called for; I was afraid it would make the cookies tough.) So I wasted some dough in washing my hands every time after loading the press. But this recipe/method still made 64 kringla. I will definitely make this recipe again and try this method again.
- Janel

★★★★★
I found this recipe last year and made them on Christmas Eve Morning..they were fabulous and a HUGE hit. I'm whipping up a batch of dough to chill overnight in the fridge to make with the kiddos again tomorrow morning! Merry Christmas everyone! :-)
- Rachael

★☆☆☆☆
Never again. For the amount of time it took to roll and twist these out they are not worth it. No flavor. Not a good taste in my opinion. 6 to 8 minutes is not long enough to bake.
- A Baker

★★★★★
I found this recipe 5 years ago and am so glad I did! I now make several batches every Christmas season. My family and friends LOVE them and can not get enough!! I usually double the amount of nutmeg just to add more flavour.
- Melanie
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