I don't know if I'm craving kringla (cring-luh) or missing my Grandma.... probably both.... but boy could I use a kringla fix right now!

Kringla was a holiday staple at our family gatherings, and Grandma made them like none other! They were soft, moist, not-too-sweet cookies with a thin layer of butter spread over them...mmm...good!

My Grandma made everything wonderfully. My Dad has mastered her lefse. My Aunt has mastered her rommegrot. I have no desire to master her (or anyone else's for that matter) lutefisk. But the kringla, and really the flatbrod, too, I really really miss. More than that, I miss my Grandma's sweet face and gracious smile serving them to us.

We do have my Grandma's kringla recipe, however, it calls simply for "flour" -- not how much. So I've been on a search for a recipe. I've found one. We'll have to give it a whirl (and a figure 8 swirl) and see how it turns out. This is one tradition I'd love to pass along to my kids -- who are a quarter less Norwegian than I am (I'm 50%), but they can flaunt their Norwegian-ness for Christmas and kringla!

Kringla - Norwegian

1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon soda
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Dash salt

Directions:Mix sugar, butter, and unbeaten egg. Add buttermilk, soda, then flour, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Knead on a board and leave in refrigerator over night. One soup spoon makes a nice size Kringla. Roll on lightly flour board until the size of a pencil. Form a Figure-8 and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in a 450 oven until lightly browned on bottom. These are supposed to be soft and chewy, kind of between a cookie and a cake. Many prefer to butter them or eat them with coffee. They taste somewhat like shortbread.