Berlinerkranser

Berlinerkranser

I grew up knowing the tradition by taste rather than by name. Syv slags kaker–or seven sorts of cookies. The way it goes, you wouldn’t be a proper Norwegian if you didn’t serve at least seven types of cookies at Christmastime. I only became aware of the tradition a handful of years ago, but there’s no doubt that my family’s propensity to load platters with multitudes of cookies stems from that particular part of our heritage.

My memories of Christmastime often take place in the kitchens and dining rooms of my mom and my grandmothers, the heart of the hospitality that pulses through my family. Grandma Adeline would drape clear plastic sheets over the china cabinet, shelving, carpet, and furniture come autumn, in preparation for baking potato lefse, the traditional flatbread that Norwegian-Americans love so much. As I wrote in an article about Christmas cookies for Edible Seattle magazine last year, once my maternal grandparents had frozen an adequate amount of lefse for the holidays and cleaned away any molecules of errant flour that had crept beyond the plastic sheets, they could relax (a bit at least) and begin baking cookies.

There were Norwegian favorites such as sandbakkels and krumkaker, plus a variety of other favorites. In my memories, Grandma Adeline is rarely siting still–rather, she’s on her feet rolling dough or drying dishes, always with a look of focus and joy in her expression. Sometimes I wonder where she got her energy.

Berlinerkranser

Berlinerkranser

In my research for the Edible Seattle article, I interviewed Dr. Kathleen Stokker, author of Keeping Christmas: Yuletide Traditions in Norway and the New Land. She helped me put in context the special nature of the family tradition.

Christmas has been extraordinarily special to Scandinavians, Stokker said, especially in Norway, which was the poorest of the Scandinavian countries and also had strong class divisions. For those who weren’t of an upper class, cookies infused liberally with butter would have been very special indeed. Farmers, among others, would have sold their butter and used lard instead for daily use–except at Christmastime, in which they’d use the butter to create cookies that reflected the celebratory time that it was. While I can now whip up a batch of cookie dough on a whim, my ancestors’ experience would have been much different. I now understand something of the context of the baking tradition that’s been passed down from generation to generation, one that’s as linked as much to hospitality and generosity as it is to the pleasure of eating something sweet.

You can read more about the tradition of the syv slags kaker in my first post of the series, which is about krumkaker. But in the meantime, let’s talk a bit about Berlinerkranser. Rich and buttery, these wreath-shaped treats were among the most popular in a survey of Norwegian Christmas cookies that Aftenposten—Norway’s largest daily paper–conducted in 1992.

Berlinerkranser

Berlinerkranser

These cookies are as Norwegian lutefisk and Jarlsberg cheese, writes Sunny Gandara, the voice behind the blog Arctic Grub and one of my contributors at The Norwegian American, where I’m the food editor. The name, Berlinerkranser, she says, could be related to a history of German immigrants bringing their baking skills into Norway, as well as Scandinavians going to Germany to study the trade.

The interesting, or perhaps peculiar, thing about these cookies is that the dough begins with a mix of both cooked and raw egg yolks.The eggs are the centerpiece of these rich, buttery cookies, and the result–if done right–is a cookie that’s substantial while remaining tender and delicate. The yolks give the cookies a subtle yellow glow, and they augment the buttery characteristic without tasting entirely of eggs.

Norwegian cookbook author Astrid Karlsen Scott granted me permission to adapt her recipe for Berlinerkranser in my Edible Seattle article last year. But this season I wanted to take my research a step farther. Berlinerkranser can be a bit finicky to make, especially as the dough has a tendency to break easily when shaping. I collected and analyzed recipes and compiled as many tips as I could find to ensure that anyone will have success when baking Berlinerkranser. Read on after the recipe for tips, and please be sure to leave a comment with yours as well.

When I took my first bite of Berlinerkranser still warm from the oven yesterday, I savored the warm, comforting experiencing of letting the cookie almost melt as it disintegrated in my mouth. The buttery richness took me back to my childhood, and I finally remembered a taste memory I had forgotten–my grandma Agny’s Berlinerkranser. Mom recently told me that Grandma used to make these cookies, but I had forgotten. The memories are vague–it’s been many years since those Christmases at her home. But–as I’m sure you know–we never forget the taste.

Berlinerkranser

Berlinerkranser (Berlin Wreath Cookies)
This recipe is very good, if I do say so myself. The cookies, especially when warm out of the oven, are rich and eggy, warm and comforting. Be sure to enjoy one or two for yourself to enjoy–perhaps with a cup of coffee–before setting them out for guests.

2 hard-cooked egg yolks 
2 raw egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup butter (I use salted), at room temperature
2 1/2 cups flour
Egg whites, lightly beaten (reserved from the raw eggs above)
1/4 cup pearl sugar

In a mixing bowl, mash the hard-cooked egg yolks (you can do this with a fork, or you can do what Magnus Nilsson does in The Nordic Cookbook and press the yolks through a sieve). Mix in the two uncooked yolks. When smooth, add the sugar and whisk vigorously until smooth. Next you’ll add the flour and the softened butter, alternating, a little at a time, working as little as possible. It will still appear crumbly, but it will come together when you press it. Divide the dough into two thick logs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.

When you’re getting ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375, line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and remove dough from the fridge (you want it to warm up slightly before you start shaping them—about a half an hour).

Divide each piece of dough into 14 even pieces. Put half of the dough back in the fridge to stay cool while you work on the first half—the dough can be challenging to work with as it gets warm. Roll each piece into a log about 1/3-inch in diameter, and about 4-4.5-inches long. Form each into a wreath with edges overlapping, and press together. Place the cookies on the baking sheets, about two inches apart. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or to help them keep their shape—if your baking sheets won’t fit, you can transfer them very carefully on the parchment onto a surface that will. Dip the tops of the chilled cookies into the beaten egg whites and then into the pearl sugar. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are very lightly golden.

Cool a little on baking rack, then transfer with care to a baking rack—perhaps just sliding the whole sheet of parchment on. Store in an airtight container. Freeze if you’re making them well in advance.

Makes about two dozen.

Tips:

I discovered that recipes generally resemble each other, with virtually all of them beginning with two hard-cooked egg yolks and two uncooked egg yolks. Recipe vary slightly in the amount of sugar used, ranging from 1/2 to 1 cup (I’m using 2/3 cup, which is somewhere in the middle, and I wouldn’t recommend any more–but you can use a smaller quantity if you’d like them a little less sweet). The amount of flour also varies quite a bit, from 1 1/4 to 3 1/3 cups. You don’t want to use too much flour, I read, as that will impact the texture—you want them to be tender. Also, work the dough as minimally as possible.

As for rolling the dough, one recipe said that working as little as possible, while still incorporating the ingredients, should help.

Getting the temperature just right is also key, as I learned from Gandara, as you want it neither too warm nor too cool. She suggests removing the dough from the refrigerator about a half an hour before forming the cookies. I find that putting unused portions of dough back in the fridge while I work keeps them from warming up too much.

I’m grateful for discovering the tip of putting the shaped dough back in the fridge for a while–15 minutes perhaps–before proceeding. The chilled cookies are so much easier to dip into the egg white and sugar at this point, and this step might help them keep their shape as well.

Berlinerkranser

Find even more sweet and savory treats in my cookbook Modern Scandinavian Baking!

Modern Scandinavian Baking

19 thoughts on “Norwegian Christmas Cookies: Berlinerkranser”

  1. My grandmother made these every Christmas. They were my favorite. The last time my mom and I tried to make these, we had a disaster. Couldn’t get them rolled out as they kept crumbling. My mother wondered if the all purpose flour that we we today is somehow different than what my grandmother would have used. Also, my grandma dipped them in crushed almonds instead of the pearl sugar your recipe calls for. Thanks for this article; I’m inspired just enough to to try to make them again.

    1. Cathy, your experience isn’t uncommon! Berlinerkranser dough can be challenging to work with, but I hope you give it a try again soon with the tips I shared here. I found that getting the temperature of the dough just right while working with it was so helpful. Also, this particular recipe is much easier to work with than the one I’ve used in the past, at least in my experience. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

      1. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had been procrastinating because I really didn’t expect to have good results this time either – but I finally took the plunge. Success! They certainly aren’t as perfect looking as my grandmothers were, but they look good and taste delicious. Thank you for your recipe and your tips and your inspiration. I’m so glad I found your website. Next year I’m going to get started earlier and include some of the others that I remember from my childhood. Grandma Nelson is looking down on me tonight and smiling.

  2. My grandmother (who was from Norway, as was my father) used to make these cookies. She always had many kinds of cookies stored away in airtight containers when we would visit. She made lefse too!! Yum!

      1. I have made Berlinerkranser and lefse for years as well as krumkaka. My maternal grandparents were Norwegian so learned from my mom and grandma. Have my girls doing it as well as my granddaughter. When I grew up on a ranch, we made lefse in the old bunk house on a wood burning stove..quite challenging keeping the fire hot enough. Nothing like the first taste of lefse each year. I now host a Lefse Day where I prep 20# of potatoes and have family and friends (some Norse and some not) come and roll, turn, taste and go home with some. The Berlinerkranser, I used to have to hide or freeze them as my youngest would “sniff” them out and eat half….my recipe is 4 hard boiled and 4 raw yolks so it makes a lot!!

  3. My grandmother made these year round, decorating them with green and red colored sugar at Christmas time versus white sugar all year round. I learn to make these at a young age and still make them to this day, my recipe is about double yours and make 5 1/2 dozen, which I need to have enough for my family to eat as they are a favorite of their as well. Also make krumkaka, sandbakkels and rosettes. Have my grandmothers krumkaka iron, sandbakkel tins and rossette irons as well.

  4. I make Berliner Kranser every Christmas. I always have trouble with shaping them. A friend told me to margarine for half the butter. I tried it and it seemed to work but since margarine is never used in my house, I would have to throw out 3/4 pound of it. I continue to struggle but its worth it.

      1. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I tried the sieve today and the cookies were easier to roll. You made my Christmas this year and all those to follow.

  5. My grandmother, from Arendal, taught my mother and then me how to make these and I’ve been doing so for 47 years. If the dough breaks apart, the temperature is not right. It’s tricky, but when you are able to form a 15″ rope and make 4-5 cookies, there’s a sense of satisfaction. The recipe you provide is what we would call a 1/2 recipe – that’s a lot of Berlinerkransa.

  6. This is my old family recipe:
    3 hard cooked egg yolks
    1 cup of butter
    1/2 t. Vanilla
    1/2 cup sugar
    2raw egg yolks
    2 1/2. Cups flower

    Cream butter, vanilla and then gradually add sugar
    Set this aside

    Cream hard cooked eggs in another dish
    Add raw eggs yolks one at a time

    Add the eggs in thirds to the butter and
    Sugar

    Add flour in fourths

    Beat well in mixer and wrap in wax paper and refrigerate.

  7. Thank you for this amazing recipe. My husband is half Norwegian and I want to try making these for him as they are his favourite. How long do these cookies store for? Could anyone advise me please if I need to freeze them on 11th December for Christmas or would an air-tight tin do? Thanks so much for your advice! God jul!

  8. This is the same recipe I have from my Norwegian grandmother…I just add 1 tsp of almond flavoring. Have made these for over 50 years and they always are a hit!! I used to have to hide them from my daughter when she was small…she would almost eat the whole batch….very much a Christmas tradition! God Jul !!

  9. Rather than pearl sugar, red or green sugar makes them look less bland, though more attractive to children, but more in the Christmas spirit. The taste is the same. Also, using a cookie press (the dough has to be warmer, of course) makes it easier to shape the cookies. Wreaths are standard, but ess- and o-shapes mix things up in a nice way. Just don’t make a pie shape, or a traditional cookie shape. It will not work.

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