Klejner - Danish Fried Cookies

Makes about 70 klejner
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 1 hour

Recipe

• 75 g / 2.6 oz butter
• 250 g / 8.8 oz flour
• ½ tsp “hjortetaksalt” (ammonium bicarbonate) – can be substituted with baking powder, but the result will not quite be the same.
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 70 g /2.5 oz sugar
• ½ lemon, organic
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp double cream
• 1 l / 4 cups neutral vegetable oil (e.g. canola) for frying

Method

• Crumble the butter in the flour. Add hjortetaksalt, cardamom, sugar and the grated zest of half a lemon. Do not add extra hjortetaksalt, or the cookies may smell of ammonia.
• Mix the eggs and double cream into the dough. Use your hands or a mixer to knead the dough.
• Refrigerate for at least one hour and preferably overnight.

After refrigeration

• Roll out the dough thinly (about ½ cm / 0.2 in thick).
• Cut strips of dough about 3 cm / 1,18 in wide, using a a traditional Danish klejnespore if you have one.
• Then cut the dough at an angle so that you have diamond-shaped pieces about 6 to 8 cm / 2.4 to 3.1 in long.
• Make 2 cm / 0.8 in lengthwise slit in the middle of the strip. Pull one end of the strip through the slit in the middle so that the sides twist.
• Collect any dough clippings and repeat the process until you are out of dough.
• Heat the oil to 175°C / 345°F in a deep pot.
• Fry 4 to 6 klejner at a time in the hot oil, keeping an eye on the pot at all times. They should only fry for about a minute until golden and crisp.
• Remove the hot klejner with a slotted spoon, let them drip dry on a paper towel. Dust with icing sugar and serve.
• The cooled klejner can be stored in an airtight container.