Kringla vs kringle: everything you need to know about the differences between these two tasty treats as well as similarities and much more! How are they made and which one should you make for the holidays? Keep on reading to learn all about these two fantastic treats and what makes them special!
Differences Between Kringla & Kringle
During the holidays, you may have come across a kringle pastry or kringla cookie on a dessert table! These two desserts are popularly baked and enjoyed around Christmas.
Even though they are both considered Scandanavian in origin, these tasty treats are two different types of desserts. A kringla is a soft cookie and a kringle is a coffee cake-like pastry!
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Let's jump into what a kringla and kringle are, their differences, similarities, and more!
What Is Kringla
A kringla is a traditional Scandinavian figure-8-shaped (or pretzel) cookie that is popular to bake around Christmas time. These pillow-like cookies are similar to sugar cookies. However, they have extra soft and tender interiors like a cake or sweet bread. Kringla cookies are incredibly easy to make and have a sweet, rich taste that everyone will enjoy!
The kringla cookie can be served on its own, or you can brush on some melted butter, even some powdered sugar if you'd like. Either way you serve it, its buttery texture will melt in your mouth! This cookie originates from the Roman Catholic Monks who made Norway their home in the 13th century.
What Is Kringle
A kringle is a buttery, flaky Danish pastry that has grown to be popular in the U.S., especially around the holidays! This pastry is typically oval in shape and made up of at least 30 thin layers of dough. Then it is filled with fruits, nuts, cheeses, or custards, and lastly drizzled with sweet icing.
The kringle pastry originates from Denmark and quickly spread through the Scandanavian region of Europe. It is traditionally shaped like a pretzel, filled with raisins and almond paste. Once this pastry made its way to America in Racine, Wisconsin, it evolved into an oval pastry stuffed with a variety of gourmet fillings. Kringle is the declared official pastry of Wisconsin as of 2013!
Key Differences
The biggest difference between kringla and kringle is that they are not the same type of dessert. A kringla is a cookie, while a kringle is a coffee cake-like pastry. Also, a kringla does not have a filling, yet kringle is packed full of a variety of fillings.
Flavor
In general, both of these delicious treats are sweet but they don't have a similar flavor.
Kringla cookies are slightly sweet and are kind of like sugar cookies. Kringle pastry can be sweet or savory depending on the filling used but typically made to be on the sweeter side.
Consistency
Kringla cookies are incredibly soft and tender with a pillow-like texture while kringle is buttery, flakey, and filled with fruits, nuts, or cheese.
You will usually find a drizzle of icing on top of a kringle, yet kringla is often eaten as is with no toppings.
Recipe
Kringla cookie dough consists of heavy cream, full-fat sour cream, sugar shortening, egg yolk, vanilla extract, baking powder & soda, all-purpose flour, and salt! The dough is rolled in flour since it has a sticky texture and is shaped in a figure-8. These cookies are only baked for 5-6 minutes, just enough to get a light golden color.
It can take up to three days to prepare a kringle because the process involves stacking over 30 thin layers of pastry dough made of butter (or shortening) with flour. The dough has to be chilled in intervals which is very time-consuming. The dough is filled with fruits, nuts, or cheese and shaped into an oval or rectangle, then baked to golden perfection!
Kringla vs Kringle Quick Comparison Chart
| Kringla | Kringle | |
|---|---|---|
| Dessert Type | Cookie | Pastry |
| Flavor | Slightly sweet like sugar cookies or shortbread | Sweet or savory depending on the filling |
| Texture | Soft and tender | Buttery and flaky |
| Occasion | Christmas, holidays | Christmas, holidays |
Similarities
This biggest similarity is, of course, the name of these two desserts! They also originate from the same region of Europe, Scandanavia.
The shape of the traditional kringle pastry is also pretzel or figure-8 just like the kringla cookie!
Now that you know all of the differences between kringla and kringle, which one are you excited to make? Leave a comment down below and let me know which one is your favorite!
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🎄 Tasty Holiday Treats
- Christmas Fudge - This delicious fudge is incredibly easy to make and only requires 4 simple ingredients!
- Pecan Pie - This classic pecan pie is great for when you need to make a tasty dessert ahead of time!
- British Christmas Pudding - British Christmas pudding features a moist cake filled with dried fruit and warm spices!
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies - These delicious Christmas cookies combine chocolate and peppermint to make the best winter flavor!
- Polar Bear Paw Print Cookies - Adorable holiday cookies topped with a peppermint patty and M&M's as cute bear paws!
- Pumpkin Pie Tart - This tasty dessert combines two classic fall treats: pumpkin pie and pecan pie!
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📖 Recipe Card
Kringla vs Kringle: Kringla (What's The Difference & How Are They Similar?)
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoon shortening
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling & shaping)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Start the night before by mixing together the heavy cream and sour cream in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth, then cover with cling film and refrigerate.
- When ready to start, set the cream mixture out to room temperature. Next, preheat your oven to 475°F (246°C) and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl cream together the sugar, shortening, and egg yolk.
- Stir in the vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the cream mixture then transfer the wet ingredients into the creamed sugar. Mix until well combined. Add the flour until completely incorporated into the dough, which should be sticky when done. *You can chill the dough for an hour before handling it to make the next step easier if desired.
- Since the dough is sticky, use a well-floured surface to roll the dough out onto. Pull off roughly 1 ½-inch ball-shaped portions of the dough and roll them in the flour to coat all sides. Then move them to the side of your working surface where there is less flour and roll them out to a rope shape (approximately 8-9 inches long). Shape the rope into an '8' or 'infinity sign' or fold over like a pretzel shape, or you can also shape them into round coils - but these take longer to bake.
- Place each shaped dough piece onto your prepared baking sheets then bake for 5-6 minutes, or until the bottom just begins to turn a light golden color. *Depending on the thickness of the 'ropes', the cooking time can be longer.
- Remove from the oven when done and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
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