Sprøde Klejner (Fried Cookie Twists)
These twisted and fried cookies are super crunchy and flavored with a delicious combination of lemon zest and cardamom. A perfect Christmas snack!
Ingredients
- 60 grams (1/4 cup + 1 tbsp) granulated sugar
- 200 grams (1 2/3 cups) flour
- 50 grams (3 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter, cold
- 1-1.5 tbsp half and half or heavy cream
- Zest of half a lemon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 large egg
- Neutral oil for frying (we used vegetable oil)
Instructions
- Combine cold butter and flour in a food processor until it looks like sand. If doing this by hand, just break up the cold butter with your fingers and crumble until you get to the sand-like consistency.
- Add in the sugar, salt, lemon zest, and cardamom and mix well.
- Add in the egg and one tablespoon of half and half (or cream) and combine in the processor or knead together until a cohesive dough forms (try not to overwork the dough, but you also want it to hold together!) If you need to, you can add an additional half a tablespoon of half and half or cream.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, roll out the dough to between 1/4 and 1/8 inch - the thinner it is, the easier it is to twist, but it may also tear apart more easily! If the dough is tearing apart easily, knead it together gently and it should help it hold its shape better. If it is too wet, add some flour as well.
- Cut the dough into a rectangle. Using a scalloped edge pastry or ravioli cutter, cut long vertical strips, about 2 inches apart. Then cut on a diagonal to make diamond shapes, about an inch and a half apart on the diagonal. Within each shape, cut a slit about an inch long, lining up the slit with the corners of each shape.
- Take each shape and pass one of the ends through the slit. This is what creates the twist in the middle, and it may take some practice! If they are breaking apart really easily, you can knead the dough a bit with some additional flour until it holds together better.
- Heat a pot filled with about a quart of oil (remember to keep the oil level low so when you add the cookies, the oil doesn't go above the edge of the pot!) to 350 F (176 C) - we highly recommend using a thermometer for this! If you have a separate electric fryer, set it to 350F (176C) and wait for it to heat up.
- Place each cookie twist (gently to avoid splashing) in the oil and fry for about 1 minute on each side or two minutes total, cooking about 5-6 cookies at a time. Make sure you are moving the cookies around when you first drop them in so they don't stick together. As soon as you add the cookies, the temperature of the oil will likely drop - you may have to adjust the stove temperature to keep it around 350F. If it's getting too hot, make sure to lower the temperature. We tend to just move the cookies around continually instead of flipping them halfway. Take the cookies out when they are a golden brown color as they will continue to darken slightly after removing from the oil.
- Place on a sheet lined with paper towel to drain.
- Repeat with all the dough (make sure to collect dough scraps, press/knead together, and re-roll them out! We usually get between 40-50 cookies). Let the cookies cool completely, top with powdered sugar (optional), and enjoy!