Christmas Crullers Recipe

Last night it finally started snowing, and this morning there was a good amount of snow.  To get in the festive spirit, I thought it would be a perfect day to make a Christmas dessert.

Back when I lived in Austin for university, I bought this old Swedish Food recipe book from Half Price Books. The book includes 200 Swedish recipes, and it was originally published in 1947 (this eighth edition was printed in 1956). I was looking through the recipes, and I decided to make the Christmas Crullers (klenäter in Swedish), which is also a popular Christmas dessert in Denmark known as klejner.

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Ingredients

All the measurements are in customary units because the book was written for Americans who were interested in making Swedish food.

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• 1 tablespoon lemon rind, grated
• oil (for frying)

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Directions

I added more instructions to the directions because some of the steps were a bit vague in the book like it said to chill the dough, but it never said for how long.

1. Mix all the ingredients (except the oil) and stir until well blended
2. Chill the dough for 1 hour
3. Put the dough on a floured surface and roll out thin
4. Cut the dough into strips that are approximately 3/4 inch wide and 3 inches long
5. Cut a gash in the center of each strip and twist one end of the strip through the slit (it will look like a knot)
6. Fry in oil until the cruller is light brown (it only takes a few seconds once the oil is heated)
7. Put the fried crullers on absorbent paper (like a paper towel)

The crullers can be eaten plain, but the book recommends serving them with jam or coffee. In Denmark  it is common to cover them with powdered sugar or a glaze. My boyfriend decided to make a chocolate glaze by boiling some water and adding powdered sugar and cocoa powder until it became an icing like texture.

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Notes

• I added 1 extra tablespoon of butter because the dough was a bit dry after blending all the ingredients
• I also used coconut oil to fry the dough because it is specifically meant for crullers/klejner and other fried desserts
• Before I added the glaze, me and my boyfriend tasted them plain, and he said they tasted like klejner, so this recipe was a success!
• This recipe made around 25 crullers, but I burned a few at the beginning because I left them in the oil too long. The book said it makes 50 servings, so I do not know if I made them too thick, but they turned out fine and were not at all doughy

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Process

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What is your favorite Christmas dessert?