Day 7 … Swedish Kringla

It seems that I collect cookie recipes. I find them, people give them to me, and sometimes they just appear. Website bookmarks, post it note tabs in cookbooks and magazines, word documents in computer files and scraps of paper and index cards, I have them all saved in some form or another. It might take me a while to get to them all but eventually I will. Projects like this give me a perfect reason to sort through them and bake away. Years ago, my friend Laurel added another one to the stack when she told me about a cookie dear to her family, a Swedish recipe they enjoy every Christmas morning. The Kringla. I had to know more.

I love a good family recipe, especially if it’s a cookie and most especially if it’s a holiday cookie. If it has been passed down through generations and has a deep sentimental value, I’m all over it. Having a few of my own family favorites, discoveries like this make my heart sing. Turns out this particular cookie, Laurel’s Kringla cookie, is a beloved throughout Scandinavia particularly Sweden and Norway. In digging around I found the recipes to be similar to the one she sent – the standard ingredients of butter, sugar, eggs but also buttermilk mixed with a little baking soda to form a smooth dough that is shaped into a pretzel or figure 8 shape.

My first batch was soft and nicely cakey but I wondered if they weren’t supposed to be crisp. Most of the photos online looked like a dry crisp cookie, good for dunking in a cup of coffee. A series of texts with Laurel quickly sorted that out. Soft and cakey it was. I breathed a sigh of relief because I really liked that soft texture but I had a thought. While delicious as is, a little spice could make them better. I hesitated, as messing with someone’s family recipe is a touchy proposition, but cardamom is such a traditional ingredient in Swedish baking I felt there was a natural affinity. So I added a little ground cardamom along with some orange zest to the dough and made a simple powdered sugar glaze for the finished cookies. Then I added some white sprinkles because the white-on-white-on-white was so pretty in a soft, monochromatic way. In the end, they were really delicious and the first ones to disappear from my Thanksgiving cookie platter. I hope Laurel’s family will like them too.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: FIKA THIS. The Swede’s have a wonderful tradition called “fika” , which simply means coffee break but is vital to daily life. These would be perfect for a fika. People just love a soft, cakey cookie and these certainly do not disappoint. Not too sweet and ever so lightly spiced, they are wonderful with coffee or tea. They also hit that holiday festive button right on the nose.

Six years ago: Adventures in India
Five years ago: Christmas Cookie Primer, Gingerbread with the Kids
Four years ago: Homemade for the Holidays
Three years ago: Lemon Slice Cookies
Two years ago: Pumpkin Spice Granola
Last year: Cider Apple Pie
12 Days of Cookies Recap so far:
— Day 1 – Pretzel Caramel Shortbread
— Day 2 – Fig Mezzaluna
— Day 3 – Dutch Windmills
— Day 4 – Bourbon Peach Rugelah
— Day 5 – Chai Spiced Meringue Kisses
— Day 6 – Almond Joy Bars

SWEDISH KRINGLA
Makes 4-5 dozen

for the cookie dough:
2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¾ cups sugar
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (½ stick)
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons orange zest
½ cup sour cream
½ cup + 2 Tablespoons buttermilk, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda

for the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
3-4 Tablespoons water

1. For the dough: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
3. On medium, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined.
4. Add the vanilla and orange zest, mixing until combined. Scrape the bowl.
5. In a small mixing cup or bowl, combine the baking soda with 2 Tablespoons of the buttermilk. Careful – it will foam a little.
6. With the mixer on low, add the sour cream and the buttermilk/baking soda mixture, mixing until combined. Scrape the bowl.
7. Add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the ½ cup buttermilk. Mix until just combined and no dry bits remain.
8. Divide the dough into two pieces, pat into a discs, wrap separately in plastic and chill at least two hours or overnight. Dough can be frozen up to two months, defrost in the refrigerator overnight. The dough is very sticky and needs to be chilled before rolling.
9. Preheat oven to 400°F and line 2-3 sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside until needed.
10. To shape: Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, pinch off a walnut size piece of chilled dough (½ ounce) and roll into a ¼” thin rope about 8” in length.
11. Form the rope into a pretzel shape and transfer to the prepared sheet pans leaving 1” in between each cookie. Continue with the remaining dough.
12. Bake: Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through baking, until cookies are set and lightly golden brown on the bottoms.
13. Let cool completely before glazing.
14. For the glaze: whisk together the powdered sugar, cardamom, salt and water to make a smooth pourable glaze. Add more water, a teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.
15. Dip each cookie, covering the top completely and letting the excess glaze drip back into the bowl. Place on parchment lined sheet pans and allow the glaze to set, about 1 hour.
16. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.