christmas tradition: smorbakkels

Traditions run deep on both sides of my family – from Christmas Eve lutefisk dinner on the Klegstad side to these pink frosted butter cookies on the Flaget side.

The only reason the smorbakkel recipe exists is because my aunt Marijean watched my great-grandma “measure” it in the mid 1960s. Before that, great grandma Emelia made it from memory, measuring in a pinch of soda and a heaping cup of flour here and a blop of sour cream there to get the correct consistency.

In Flaget tradition, smorbakkels are layered into a tiered cake. My mom had one for every birthday.

For as long as I can remember, my sister and I help our mom frost on Christmas Eve, and we enjoy them as cookies. They’re flaky and just the right amount of sweetness to have one – er, three – after dinner.

Merriest Christmas, friends!

smorbakkels

• 2.5 to 3 cups flour (depends on thickness of cream… if thick, use 3 cups)
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup thick sour cream
• 1/s tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp sugar

Mix flour and salt.

Cut in (or mix with hands or two knives) the butter. Mix until crumbly.

Mix sour cream with the baking soda and sugar.

Add the sour cream mixture to the flour a little at a time, using a knife to cut in the sour cream (hands work well, too).

When mixing is done, the dough should be like butter with a floury feel. Refrigerate until chilled.

Roll dough (one-third of it at a time) to quarter-inch thickness. Cut into rectangles; cut a small slit in the middle and split.

Bake at 400 degrees until browned.

For the frosting: Mix cream, sugar and powdered sugar until spreadable consistency (boil a small amount of cream with granulated white sugar and stir in powdered sugar). Add a couple drops of red food coloring to make the frosting a light pink.

Frost cookies and then dip the tops of cookies in coconut (my mom uses sweetened).

Makes about four dozen cookies.

Enjoy!