Oslo Kringle is a delicious Norwegian dessert, with the flavor and texture of a cream puff, but with a simpler preparation and fjords of delicious, almond icing.
My paternal grandmother, Gramma John, was full-blooded Norwegian. Though she was born in Minnesota, both her parents had emigrated from Norway in the early 20th century. She grew up speaking Norwegian, making lefse, and eating lutefisk.
My Aunt Cass, my mother’s sister, spent a year in Norway during college. Despite her very Polish heritage, she embraced the Norsk culture, language, and food. She was quick to teach me and my four siblings about our father’s ancestors and give gifts from Norway.
So, it should come as no surprise that when Heritage Day rolled around at school, and I or one of my siblings was called on to give a presentation, we leaned on the Norwegians.
My great uncle had gifted us a small, hand-carved wooden Viking ship that we took to show off along with the ribbons and lace items supplied by Aunt Cass. For her part, my mom baked an Oslo Klinger.
At least that’s what she called it.
My sisters and I googled it till we were blue in the face, but we could not find Oslo Klinger anywhere in Norwegian lore. Or Google as the case may be.
One sister suggested my mom must have just made it up when she was pressed for time one day and one of her progeny needed a baked good for Heritage Day. I sent out a family group text early one morning to find out more.
All of us knew how to prepare the dish: pate a choux dough, sugar icing, and almonds. We knew that much.
In her defense, Mom said that a woman from church had given her the recipe and it was she who called it Oslo Klinger and said it was Norwegian. Maybe she made it up…?
But, no! I asked the Facebook peeps and they solved the mystery! There is, indeed, a dessert called Oslo Kringle.
Oslo Kringle
So the letters got a little mixed up.
The mystery is solved and our Norwegian heritage claims remain justified.
What is a Kringle pastry?
I did a little research on Oslo Kringle. Apparently, there are many different variety of kringle. Some are made like a filled danish. Others in an O shape. Still others with a pie crust bottom.
But, I found some versions similar to ours, meaning we weren’t too crazy for perpetuating this tradition.
And in case you’re wondering if it’s anything like the Kringle you can buy at Trader Joe’s, the answer is sorta. The flavors are very similar, but TJ’s version has an almond paste filling, similar to a bear claw, while this Kringle has almonds and almond flavoring as a topping.
My kids devoured both types of kringle in one afternoon, declared them both good, but stated that they liked the crunchy texture of the almond topping of this particular kringle best.
Whenever I bite into this dessert, it is like taking a bite out of my childhood. Dare I call it a Proustian moment?
It tastes just like when Mom made it. The pasty puffs up in weird little hills and valleys. The icing creates little fjords of flavor. The almonds add a nice little crunch.
Beware! Oslo Kringle is the kind of dessert that doesn’t last long. The flavors are kind of addicting and there’s no stopping until the plate is empty.
It makes a delightful addition to any breakfast, brunch, or dessert table.
How do you make Oslo Kringle?
As I mentioned before, this version of Oslo Kringle starts with a pate a choux, or cream puff pastry. It’s simple enough to do, but there are some tricks for best results.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the water and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add the flour and salt. Cook, stirring, until mixture leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball around your spoon.
- At this point, it’s helpful to have a stand mixer. Transfer the hot dough to the bowl of your mixer and allow it to cool slightly. Attach the paddle attachment and run it on low until the side of the bowl has cooled to warm.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well to combine. The mixture will look really weird after a while and you’ll think you did something wrong. If it looks like scrambled eggs, don’t worry.
- Keep beating until the mixture looks smooth and creamy.
- Spread the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silat mat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 425 degrees. The batter will puff and turn golden and crispy.
- Turn off the oven. Remove the pan from the oven and prick holes in the pastry. Return the pan to the warm oven to dry out the insides of the pastry.
- Cool the pastry on a rack. While it’s cooling, prepare the glaze.
- Combine powdered sugar, lemon zest, milk, and almond extract. Stir well with a wooden spoon until smooth.
- Drizzle the glaze over the pastry and sprinkle on the slivered almonds.
- Try not to eat it all.
Please note that you do not have to have a mixer to make pate a choux dough. However, beating in the eggs takes a little muscle. Apparently, my Norwegian ancestors were a bit stronger than I am. I had to have my teenage son take turns.
How to make this good and cheap:
You know I don’t typically want to make something if I can’t make it good as well as cheap. Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When I find regular kitchen staples on sale, I buy a lot. I’m currently using a price book to track prices and that’s saving me money. For this recipe, keeping an eye on the price of flour, butter, and sugars can help keep the price down.
- Buying in bulk – It’s rare that I would buy a small bag of flour. I hedge my bets by buying in bulk. I also have gotten into the habit of buying cases of flour from Bob’s Red Mill or VitaCost so that I always have baking supplies on hand.
- Load up on post-holiday clearance specials. You’ll find great deals on baking ingredients after holidays. There are lots of ways to use holiday baking items creatively.
How I make this recipe easy:
This recipe really couldn’t be easier than it is, but having the right kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs.
Here are the tools that I use for this recipe:
- stand mixer – This makes quick work of making the dough. You can do it by hand, but I prefer the stand mixer.
- parchment paper – I hate washing pans. Parchment paper makes clean up a breeze.
- sheet pans – I LOVE my set of steel sheet pans. They make such a difference in baking.
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!- 1 cup hot water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons slivered almonds toasted
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water and butter to a boil.
- Add the flour and salt. Cook over medium, stirring, until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball around the spoon.
- Remove the pan from heat and beat in the eggs one at a time. You can do this in the pan by hand or transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow the mixture to cool slightly before adding the eggs.
- Spread the batter in a large rectangle on the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Turn off the oven. Prick holes in the pastry and allow to rest in the hot oven for 20 minutes more to dry out the insides of the pastry.
- Cool the pastry on a rack.
- In a small bowl combine the powdered sugar, milk, almond extract, and lemon zest.
- Place the pastry on a serving platter. Drizzle the icing over the top of the pastry. Sprinkle the almonds over all.
Store the kringle, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
I consider our family to be rather quirky and eclectic in our food traditions. Here are other dishes I grew up with:
Have you got a favorite family food tradition?
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1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour?
Yes, thank you for catching the typo. It’s fixed now.
My great grandmother was 100% Norwegian and emigrated to New York. My grandmother made Yulekake and Vetekake during the holidays. I was never fond of the citron. My kids and husband do not like it either so I do not bother making them. My grandmother would also make Krumkake. I did love those thin cookies. My family is ok with them but the recipe makes so many that they end up spoiling before we can eat them all so that tradition has also gone by the wayside. One time I made Lefse and again that made way to many and no one ate it. Thank you for sharing this Norwegian recipe. Norwegian recipes are hard to find. I will give this one a try.
Poke holes in and let it rest in the turned off oven. A few holes? All over holes? Sounds fantastic, but I think I will use the stand mixer. This would be a perfect job for a Danish dough whisk
I do all over holes, maybe ten?, with a toothpick.
I’m of Norweigen heritage too! I’ve been to Norway a few times and am fascinated with the culture! My family makes a Kringle (pronounced Kring-la) that’s a little different than yours. It’s like a braided cinnamon bread with a sugar glaze. I am going to give your recipe a try, too! It’s sounds great! I’m going to ask my aunt about it too — she still lives in Norway. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
SOOO excited! LOVE Kringle and Julekake! Have not had Kringle b/c I am too cheap to order it.. I definletly will be trying this! I get a loaf of Julekake for Christmas from my aunt! YUM!
Remember there are lots of different recipes for kringle, so this might not be what you think of when you think kringle. I hope it is, though.
I have a very similar recipe a friend gave me years ago. It is called Danish Puff and was served for breakfast. Yours looks like it would be delicious with a good cup of coffee!
I have never heard of this, although from the links it seems more of a Danish thing (I can’t find recipes in Norwegian), but since the Scandinavian countries have such a connected history there are quite a few things that overlap.
That said, it does look like a punctured vannbakkels without cream.
It’s been hard to do this research since my Gramma passed away 13 years ago and my Norwegian is non-existent. My fear is that this is an Americanized version of something.
Happy to hear any new research you have. But, yes, a google/translate search of vannbakkels looks like they are in the same family.
My grandmother from my stepfather’s side emigrated here from Norway just a year before he was born, and this is almost the exact same recipe as hers. She didn’t use salt in the dough because she used salted butter and figured that was enough. For the frosting, it was 1c powdered sugar, 1tbsp room temp butter, 1tsp almond and 1.5 tbsp heavy cream or half and half.
We also shape it like a giant ring. Very similar though. Pretty sure it’s not americanized because that was a family recipe from Norway.
Yay! Thank you for letting me know!
I am Danish (as in full blooded Dane, who lives in Denmark 😉 ) and you are right; this is a punctured vandbakkelse or Waleskringle.
If you bake the puff pastry in individual serving sizes and let them cool without puncturing them, you can fill them with jam and cream, and it is called a “vandbakkelse”. If you bake it as a big cake and do the same, its called a Waleskringle.
Hope it clears Things up a bit 🙂
Love reading your site, by the way!
Kathy
Yay! How fun to know!
Ok, confession time: I left a comment on your FB page saying I was making an Oslo Kringle but I had a different recipe. HUGE FLOP. Ugh, I don’t like wasting ingredients. I will be trying yours, because I don’t think you’d steer the rest of us wrong. 😉
I am German, but we grew up eating kringle because my sister was a pro at making it (Danish kringle). My husband is half Dutch, half Danish, and he grew up eating it, too. I never had the knack for making the Danish kind (way too putzy), so maybe this will make our breakfast a bit more special. And Christmas! I was going to order some kringle from our favorite Danish bakery in southern WI but it is so expensive!!
Bummer on the flop. 🙁
If you know how to make cream puff dough, this should be easy. And keep in mind, all my research says this is very different than the Danish kind. (I’ve never had the Danish variety, so I can’t compare.)
My ALDI has it for the season. It’s with the breads.
I did not see it when I was there this week. Will have to look. Thanks!
Hurray for Kringle!! My husband and I both have Norwegian in our backgrounds, and one Christmas he asked me to call his aunt and get Grandma’s recipe… and now it’s been our Christmas morning tradition the last 4 years. His family always called it “Kris Kringle.” 🙂 We don’t do the almonds on the top, and my instructions are slightly different, but yours looks just like ours! We actually do two long narrow strips (like 3″ wide, the length of the pan), and ours separates into two layers — a flour/butter sort of pie crust botom layer, then the egg/flour/almond layer poured overtop. Bake and glaze. Traditions are so fun!
LOVE! This brings back memories… my Danish great grandma used to make something similar to this for “coffee klatsch” when I was a child. SO good.
Loved this post. I’m half Norwegian.
Love this! Thank you for the recipes; we will be making it Christmas morning. We called it Oslo Kringler my whole childhood! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!!! When I was a kid my aunties would make this and it was called Oslo Kringler…and round shaped. Now, no one seems to have the recipe and I was heartbroken – But no more!! Thanks again!
Hi, i an norwegian and was so happy to see this recipe. IT is quite similar to what we call wienerbrød which is very popular in norway, i can basically find it anywhere. Try Google it 🙂
I tried a similar recipe from my sister but it had a crust which was not good at all. Searching the internet I found this recipe and I loved it! The pastry reminders me of popovers. I may try to flavor it using lemon during the summertime.
Thank you, this is now a family favorite.
Lemon sounds lovely! Yes, I saw the same recipes with crust. Didn’t understand that at all. Glad you liked it!
I had never heard of Oslo Kringle until I stumbled upon your blog! What a beautiful discovery. I can’t wait to try this at home!
Instruction #4 ‘bean the eggs’… Haven’t tried this kind of kringle, looking forward to making this! kringle is a tradition in this family at Christmas — purchasing it, that is! Thanks for the recipe, have enjoyed your blog. K
Ha! Good catch! Thanks.
I think you should make a video of this. 😉
Great idea!
I have been experimenting with my Kringla recipe: Baking at 350 degrees for 45 min. gives a lighter result on top and the custard is lovely. It gets eaten fast doesn’t it!
Thanks for the tip!
There’s a similar one I had the first time I went to Norway, called Vannbakkelse. I looked and looked for the recipe, and finally found it in ‘The Great Scandinavian Baking Book’ by Beatrice Ojakangas under the name Norwegian Cream Puff Pretzel, or Vandbakkelskringle. The directions call for shaping it like a Danish kringle. I just spooned it in strips.
Good to know!
My grandma is full-blooded Norwegian, born in Montana and her whole family traces back to Norway. I’d like to try all of these different recipes I find, however I am allergic to eggs so I was wondering if there’s a way to substitute w/o messing up the recipe. Thanks.
Unfortunately, not with this recipe. The eggs are key to this pastry.