Manitoba spin on Austrian classic

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This article was published 02/12/2023 (979 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

We’re kicking off our annual cavalcade of Christmas cookies with a submission from reader Katharina Haigh, who adapted a traditional Austrian recipe with a Manitoba twist. The measurements, as in most European baking recipes, are by weight, not volume.

I grew up in Austria and I used to make these cookies, called Ischler Kringel, with my mom. They are still a big hit whenever I bake them. My mom got this cookbook, Großmutters gute Weihnachtsbäckerei (first published in 1970), sometime in the 1980s and passed it on to me. The title translates to “Grandmother’s Good Christmas Cookies” and these recipes more or less go back to the turn of the last century.

“Ischl is a place in Austria, and a Kringel is an old term for a ring, essentially a doughnut. The original recipe calls for black currant jelly, but I have adapted it to Manitoba by using homemade chokecherry or saskatoon berry jelly.

The magic lies in the contrast of these very delicate cookies, the strongly flavoured jam and the topping. Originally, the cookies were decorated with sugar frosting and sprinkles on one side, and chocolate and pistachio nuts on the other side, but I usually only do either of the two.

— Katharina Haigh

Ischler Kringel

300 g flour
300 g unsalted butter
150 g ground almonds
120 g fine sugar*
2 egg yolks
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Chokecherry or saskatoon berry jelly
Chocolate glaze and/or icing sugar
Sprinkles, pine nuts or crushed unsalted pistachio nuts

Add flour, butter, almonds, sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest and juice to the bowl of a food processor and blend until a ball of dough forms. Cover and let dough rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

Heat oven to 325 F.

Roll out the dough to about 3 mm and cut out rings with a doughnut form. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for eight to 10 minutes until they are just starting to show colour.

These are very fragile cookies. Let them cool for a few minutes on the sheet before removing and letting them cool completely.

Gently spread jelly on one side of the cookies and top with another cookie, then decorate with chocolate glaze and/or icing sugar and sprinkles, pine nuts, or crushed unsalted pistachio nuts.

* Note: Katharina suggests using berry sugar and blending it in a coffee grinder for a finer texture.

Recipe translated from the cookbook Großmutters gute Weihnachtsbäckerei by Ursula Regnet and Helene von Lichtenfels.

Looking for a cookie recipe from past years of Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies? The Free Press has stored dozens of recipes from past years at wfp.to/cookies.

Eva Wasney
Reporter

Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.

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