Kringles

I found this recipe at Penzey's Spices. It seemed mildly interesting, so I made the dough while focusing more intently on kumquat preserves and the previously posted ginger cake.

I baked the Kringles this morning, and I could hardly believe how delicious they were; crunchy on the bottom but deliciously soft on the inside and packed with warm brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and walnuts. I would make them again in a heartbeat.

The glaze was a little thin though, for my tastes. I might look into a thicker glaze recipe.


Kringles
This looks like a lot of work/ingredients but it really isn't. This is another recipe with yeast that is nearly foolproof, as in this case the yeast stays cold throughout and there is no rising. So easy!

This recipe makes two kringles and can easily serve 8-10 polite people or fewer unrestrained ones.

Dough:
4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Cup butter, slightly softened
2 TB. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. dry yeast (2 1/4 TB.)
2 eggs, beaten
1 Cup milk

Filling:
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp. cinnamon
5 TB butter, melted
1 Cup chopped nuts (in order of preference I would use pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts)

Glaze:
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
2 TB butter, softened
4 TB hot water
1 TB milk
1-2 tsp. vanilla extract

To make the dough:
Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Use a pastry blender, two knives of your hands blend together until mixture is crumbly. In a separate bowl mix the yeast, eggs, and milk. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, making sure no yeast remains in the wet mixture bowl. Mix well until all is blended, it will pull away from the sides and form a ball. Divide it into two equal pieces, flatten them into discs, wrap in plastic wrap and put them into the refrigerator overnight (I left mine in for 24 hours and they were fine) or at least 6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Mix together the two sugars and the cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. Place each disc on an ungreased cookie sheet. Roll out each piece of dough to 1/8" thickness about the length of your cookie sheet and as wide as 1/8" thickness will allow. Brush half the melted butter over each piece of dough, sprinkle each piece with half the sugar mixture, and top with half of the nuts. Turn the cookie sheet so that the long side faces you and roll up the dough like a jellyroll stopping at the halfway point. Then turn the sheet again, so that the other long side is facing you and roll up the other side to the halfway point, so that the two rolls meet in the middle. Pinch the rolls together very firmly down the center line (they are going to want to separate in the oven so pinch like you mean it) and fold the ends under. Bake 20-25 minutes, changing racks halfway through the baking time, (switch the top to bottom, and front to back) Remove the kringles to a cooling rack and let cool at least 10 minutes before glazing.