Danish Christmas Klejner (Crullers) Recipe

Updated on January 20th, 2022

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

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. The ingredients are:

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

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Directions

I added more instructions to the directions because some of the steps of the Christmas Crullers recipe 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 for the oil) together and stir until well blended
2. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour
3. Put the dough on a floured surface and roll it 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, which you can see in the pictures below
6. Heat the oil in a pot or deep pan
7. Fry the crullers in the oil until the cruller is light brown
8. Put the fried crullers on an absorbent paper such as 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 partner 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 combining 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, my partner and I 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 doughy at all
• For more Danish dessert recipes, you can check out my Strawberry Shortcake Æbleskiver Recipe, Hindbærsnitter Recipe, and Rabarbergrød (Rhubarb Porridge) Recipe

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Process

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What is your favorite Christmas dessert?