As promised

A post about Kringla!

Now, if you followed the link below, you'll realize that my Kringla doesn't look anything like the traditional Norwegian Kringla. It does, however, somewhat resemble the Kringla that Grandma K. brings the kids when she visits. Mine is not as even or as pretty, but ohhhhh does it taste good!
Due to the time & mess involved in making it, Kringla is a "special occasion" cookie. It comes out for Christmas, maybe Easter. It is not a spur-of-the-moment, lets-bake-coookies cookie, it is a 2 day process. It is also something that I like to keep special, and when you take a bite of these, you know they are special.

Kiki's Kringla, adapted from MBPG on Allrecipes.com
Day one.
Mix two cups sour cream & two cups heavy cream in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Put in the fridge until tomorrow. Have a glass of wine & contemplate cleaning some counter space in order to actually make these.

Day two.
Take sour cream mix out of the fridge. Let it come to room temperature. (At my house, that isn't much different than fridge temp, but lets pretend it is!) Preheat the oven to 475. (Yes, that is 475, very hot) Then, line up your baking sheets. You'll need several.

Mix 2 teaspoos baking soda & 2 teaspoons real, pure vanilla extract into the cream mixture. It marbles up very pretty; see: Next, in a very large bowl beat 1/4 cup softened butter with 2 2/3 cups sugar and 2 egg yolks. Add the new improved cream mixture to the butter mixture & beat some more.
In another bowl, sift together 6 cups of flour & 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Then gently dump in your flour mixture mixing as you go until fully incorporated.

Now, take a deep breath, roll up your sleeves, make sure your apron is tied & hair out of your face. Curse at yourself that you drank wine instead of cleaning counter space. Clean some counter space and find a good workspace. On a floured surface, with floured hands, grab a hunk of (very sticky) dough about the size of those yummy Ferrero Rocher balls, (you know the ones with a crispy coating over a hazelnut with chocolate-hazelnut filling) roll your ball of dough out to a coil and then attempt to shape into an infinity symblol or a figure 8 depending on which way is up. This is easier said than done, but this dough fluffs up enough that the detail is lost. (The kringla my mother-in-law brings from Iowa is always beautiful, but not as puffy as mine. I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but I like these so I'm not going to mess with it) put your infinity, figure 8, letter B, ... shaped dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat process with freshly floured hands. The dough is very sticky, so if the phone rings, let the machine get it. In between kringla you can try to get some of the dough off, but you may look like a dog trying to get peanut butter off the roof of its mouth. Give the kringla enough space to puff out like a pomeranian and put into the oven. Bake for about 4 minutes, then turn cookie sheet. Bake for another 4 minutes or so until the tops have just a hint of brown.

Usually, I put HP in charge of the oven & baking portion while I am busy attempting to make my infinity signs. (Really, the dough sticks to your fingers and you get some odd shapes).



These taste best fresh out of the oven, with a small pat of butter on top. They melt in your mouth! They are also good if you microwave it for about 10 seconds & put butter on it. And they are also good just on their own or with a cup of hot cocoa, or coffee...