We make these Norwegian cookies at Christmastime. It involves using a special krumkake iron, but an Italian pizzelle iron works as well. I have an electric krumkake iron, but there is an old-fashioned type that you use on a stove. You can make them flat or roll them into a cone shape with the wooden krumkake dowel. —HeetlandZander
If you want to learn more about Christmas food traditions around the world, writer FiveandSpice reported on how important holiday cookies are around Norway: "Norwegian cookies are, like for many of us, essential during the holidays in Norway. But what makes a Norwegian cookie plate? Seven cookies, first of all, and a wide variety of cookies based on whatever traditions your family hold.
"When I was growing up, the only time of year we ever, ever had cookies was at Christmas.
"It made the weeks leading up to Christmas even more intensely special—the evenings spent standing next to my mother, referring to the notes scrawled in Norwegian in her tattered folio of treasured recipes, helping to weigh out flour and butter and sugar, mixing and rolling the cookies into their appropriate shapes.
"We never had a single sprinkle in our house or a bag of icing. All of our cookies were traditional Norwegian recipes: simple, rustic, and, for us, the very essence of Christmas. The lineup was usually pretty simple: nøttekaker (hazelnut cookies), krumkaker (cone-shaped cookies), sandbakkelse ('sand tarts'), and serinakaker."
This recipe for krumkaker results in a deliciously buttery crisp cookie. You do need a krumkake iron to make them and to get the best texture and thickness, which you can find online. And a wooden krumkake cone is usually included with the iron, but you can also choose to leave the cookies flat. If you opt for the cone shape, you can fill them up with cream and berries too. Happy holidays! —The Editors
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