Berliner Kranzer No. 2

Cookies by Bess has two Berliner Kranzer cookie recipes, Berliner Kranzer No. 1 and Berliner Kranzer No. 2.  I’ve been looking at these recipes for years now, barely able to get past the 4 hard cooked egg yolks and 4 raw egg yolks in the ingredients list. It’s just hard for me to picture a cookie with 8 egg yolks!

Cookies by Bess is filled with recipes from all over the world. I hadn’t heard of Berliner Kranzer cookies before, so I decided to Google It! There are a ton of recipes some mention the recipe is from Germany, but most mention it is a Norwegian butter cookie.

Just about all the recipes show Berliner Kranzers cookies in the shape of a wreath. Grandma Bess’ recipes mention shaping the cookies into a wreath, but also suggest other options like cut outs, putting through a cookie press, and refrigerator rolls that can be sliced. I decided on the refrigerator roll option.

This time around, I decided to make the Berliner Kranzer No. 2 recipe. Debated it for a while, ended up flipping a coin to decide. ?  I’m rating the Berliner Kranzer No.2 recipe 3-stars for cookie difficulty due to the many steps in the baking process. Cooking the eggs, putting the yolks through a sieve, slicing, cutting, or pressing the dough to make the cookies, and finally decorating them with sugar and nuts.

I definitely planned a head when contemplating this recipe. Cooking the eggs, cooling them, and finally peeling and separating them ahead of time made a big difference!

I started the process by putting the hard cooked egg yolks through my version of a sieve. I don’t actually have a sieve, but I do have a splatter screen. This seemed the perfect alternative!

It actually worked pretty well, but certainly took a while and was a little messy.

Mixing the butter, sugar, and raw egg yolks together created a rich golden color start to the dough.

Next, adding the egg yolks maintained the gold color.

Finally, adding the flour and cream brought the dough together.  I did notice it definitely had a different consistency than other cookie dough. It’s very hard to describe. It was almost stretchy and bouncy. Obviously something to do with all the eggs.

I mentioned above, I decided to go the refrigerator cookie route. To do this, I shaped the dough into rolls, wrapped them in wax paper, and stuck them in the refrigerator overnight.

I used half the dough for the refrigerator cookies, and saves half to make wreaths.  I stuck this dough ball in the freezer for another baking day.

Out of the refrigerator, the dough was good for slicing!

Once I had my cookie slices, I gathered my holiday sugar colors along with the egg whites.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a small brush, so I used my index finger to spread a bit of egg white onto each cookie slice.

Then I sprinkled red and green sugar on each slice.

Finally, I sprinkled the nuts. I decided to use walnuts this time around. I think almonds might be good too!

The cookies didn’t spread or change shape while baking, so I was able to pack the cookie sheets with lots of cookie!

They look the same after baking as they did before I baked!

The cookies were easy to remove from the cookie sheets and look so festive on my cooling racks! Check out how pretty they are! The cookies is nice and smooth, a creamy white color. The sugar and nuts add just enough holiday personality!

Just look at all these cookies!

Berliner Kranzer No. 2 cookies have a very subtle taste. Nothing dramatic or distinct. Not too sweet, not too bland and the sugar and nuts on top compliment the cookie flavor perfectly!

Berliner Kranzer No. 2 cookies are perfect for a holiday luncheon or coffee time with your friends. They are a perfect compliment to your holiday cookie trays.

If you are looking for a cookie to add WOW to the holidays…Berliner Kranzer No. 2 cookies are for you!

XXOO,

Janet

 

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