Rosettes are thin, lightly sweetened, traditional Norwegian cookies that are deep-fried on a rosette iron. After they are fried, the are dusted with granulated sugar. Learn how to make this Norwegian rosette recipe at home.

If you’re reading this recipe, chances are you have an heirloom rosette iron tucked away in your pantry.

Perhaps it’s your mother’s or grandmother’s. And most likely, it is quite old and has been lovingly used over the decades to make the most delicious of traditional Norwegian Christmas cookies.

While there are certainly easier traditional Norwegian Christmas recipes to make – few make the impression that rosettes do.

They’re the most delicate, crisp of cookies. Best fried in a mixture of lard and Crisco, they’re golden brown and dusted with granulated sugar. They’re subtly sweet and go great with a hot cup of coffee.

There is a bit of a learning curve to frying rosettes, involving getting the oil the right temperature, the iron hot, the batter cold, and not getting too much batter on the iron.

Keep reading for some tips for getting it just right. But keep in mind this might take an attempt or two before getting it just right.

Enjoy the process, my Norwegian recipe-loving friends!

Tips For Making Rosettes

This Norwegian rosette recipe is not the easiest traditional Norwegian delicacy to make. But it’s worth the extra effort. Here are some of my own tips, as well as tips from a Norwegian recipe Facebook group I belong to, for making perfect rosettes:

• Sift flour into milk and mix well
• Add eggs last and avoid overbeating
• After you mix the rosette batter, let it sit for 30 minutes in the fridge to allow any air bubbles to dissolve
• Keep batter cold
• Heat oil to 375F
• Don’t over-fry. It’s easy to go from just right to browned or burnt in a few seconds.
• Fry in half lard/half Crisco (you can also fry in vegetable or peanut oil)
• If you are running into unevenly fried rosettes: As the batter starts browning use a fork to get them to release in the hot oil; turn them over in the oil to get a uniform fry.

More Traditional Norwegian Recipes

I love sharing the traditional Norwegian recipes my family has enjoyed over the decades. Here are some recipes from my family’s archives:

• Potato dumplings (klub)
• My Norwegian Grandma’s meatball recipe
• Swedish meatballs
• Lutefisk
• Flatbread (flatbrod)
• Scandinavian open-faced sandwiches
• Lefse (no special equipment needed!)
• Norwegian cream pudding (rommegrot)
• Rommegrot bars
• Norwegian rice pudding (risgrot)
• Almond kringler
• Kringla cookies
• Fattigmand cookies
• Krumkake
• Goro cookies
• A Scandinavian snack board
• Norwegian egg coffee
• Non-alcoholic gløgg
• Pepperkaker cookies
• Norwegian Christmas bread

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Norwegian Rosettes

Yield: Approximately 40 rosettes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Don't be discouraged if your first few rosettes don't turn out. After the oil is properly heated and the iron is warmed up, you'll get in the "sweet spot" where each rosette fries to a lovely golden brown and easily slips off the iron.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 additional cup granulated sugar, for sprinkling

For frying

• 2 inches of cooking oil (or a 50/50 combination of Crisco and lard)

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour into milk and mix well. Add sugar and salt.
2. Once the mixture is uniform, whisk in eggs. Avoid overbeating.
3. Allow batter to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow any air bubbles to dissolve.
4. Place batter in a shallow dish, so it's easy to dip the rosette iron in it.
5. Heat 2 inches of oil to 375F. Prep the rosette iron by immersing it in hot oil for a few seconds. Remove from oil and dip almost to the top of the iron in batter (leave a 1/4 inch or so).
6. Immerse rosette iron in the oil, covering completely. Fry until the batter stops bubbling and the rosettes are golden brown. Remove from oil and remove fried rosette from iron. It should slip off, but you may need to tap the top of the iron with a fork.
7. Continue frying the remaining rosettes. Set aside. Sprinkle with granulated sugar after about 45 minutes, while the rosettes still have a bit of residual cooking oil, so the sugar will stick to them.

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