In the time between Christmas and Easter, and especially for Carnival, on the coast of Croatia, lots of mothers and grandmas are making this kroštule recipe.
Kroštule is a very old recipe that has Latin roots: “crustulum.” In Roman times, crustulum, also called “mini Roman pancake,” was considered to be a small treat for soldiers during times of war.
This crunchy and sweet dessert is really very easy to make, but make no doubt they are very delicious. The only problem is that you can’t stop and eat just one.
There are lots of variations to this dessert in Croatia, so you can find them made differently. In some recipes, they use only one type of flour; in some, they use only egg yolks, and in some, the whole eggs. Some recipes contain lemon or orange peel… Use this recipe as a base – and then get creative.
Enough talking, let’s bake. Here is the recipe for the kroštule crunchy delight
Croatian Kroštule (Sweet Pastry Knots)
In the time between Christmas and Easter, and especially for Carnival, on the coast of Croatia, lots of mothers and grandmas are making this kroštule recipe.
Ingredients
- 500 g all-purpose flour (3 1/2 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 130 g sugar (2/3 cup)
- 25 ml oil (2 tablespoons)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon dark rum or schnapps
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or 1 tablespoon of vanilla essence
- 100 g sour cream (6.5 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (prašak za pecivo)
Extra
- 1 liter oil (4 2/3 cups)
- 50 g caster sugar (1/4 cup)
- 50 g powdered sugar (1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Mix the eggs, vanilla sugar and sugar to a creamy mixture
- Add the rum or schnapps, oil, and sour cream and combine well
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt, then gradually add flour mixture to the egg and sugar mix, constant stirring to get a sticky dough. Mix it for a few minutes on the table to become smooth and soft
- Shape the dough into a ball, and leave in a bowl and cover it with a tea towel and leave it to rest for 1 hour
- Roll out the dough to 2mm thin and then cut it with the knife in 4x8cm pieces
- Then make a slice in the middle of each section (be careful not to slice end-to-end)
- Now comes the tricky part. Take one side of the krostula and pull it through the split in the middle to make something like a knot
- Let them rest for 15 minutes covered with a tea towel
- Heat the oil. There are two ways to check if the oil is warm enough. The first is to put a wooden handle inside if the small bubbles start to make around it, it is ideal for beginning the frying, then reduce the heat to medium. Another way is to check with a piece of dough. If it starts burning straight away, your oil is ready
- Fry the dough for a minute on each side, or until you have a beautiful golden color. Just turn them twice during frying
- Take them out of oil and place them on paper towel to drain off the excess oil
- Sprinkle the kroštule with a mixture of powdered and caster sugar and serve them with a cup of Croatian coffee
Starinski preukusni recept. U mojoj se kući odavno sprema nešto slično, samo se ne uvija u pletenicu, stare dobre poslastice.
Its so Great to see more about travel, living and our Great family receipts are going public. Croatia I tell everyone is absolutely gorgeous and grandma recipes and our delicious pastries and foods needs to be more present in the media, in every way.
Thank you for sharing
Love to all my Croatians
Nancy
Hey!
I was so excited to come across this recipe as I remember my Kuma making these. I keep trying to make them, but my dough is so dry. I’m following the recipe exactly, the second dough I made I tried adding a bit more sour cream.. still no luck. What am I doing wrong? I live in Calgary, Alberta and am wondering if I maybe need to add another egg to compensate for the high altitude?
Please help, these look deliscious!
I do not have any experience with high-altitude cooking, but dry dough sounds like too much flour or kneading it too much. I’d try adding less flour and kneading it JUST enough until it comes together. Good luck.