Chrusciki- Bow Knots

Submitted by Rita1652

"These Polish cookies are very time consuming to make. It's a great help to have a bunch of your favorite family members to help! They are very flavorful and rich. This recipe makes hundreds of cookies. Literally. But they are worth it in the end. The cognac can easily be omitted entirely But why bother! You can cut the kneading time down by using a food processor! Use a couple of pans for frying to make it go faster! (Assembly line)! Cook time is 1 minute per batch of cookies!"

 

• Ready In: 31mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Yields: 200 cookies

ingredients

• 2 whole eggs
• 10 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (I use vanilla sugar, check out my recipe)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure orange extract
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated fresh lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange rind
• 3 tablespoons cognac
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream
• 4 -5 cups flour
• melted Crisco, mixed with
• lard, if kosher just use crisco
• powdered sugar

directions

1. Beat the eggs and egg yolks together until thick and lemon colored.
2. Add the melted butter, sugar, salt, extracts, citrus rinds, cognac, and sour cream and beat until creamy and smooth.
3. Add enough flour gradually to produce a thick, fairly stiff dough.
4. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough is elastic and can be handled easily.
5. Roll pieces of dough 1/8 inch thin (should be able to see through them) and cut into strips about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide.
6. Cut the ends on a diagonal.
7. Slit each piece in the center and pull one end through the slit.
8. Heat the crisco and lard to 375 degrees and fry the dough strips, until lightly browned (about 1 minute) Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
9. (SHHHHHHHHHHH!) Sneak 1 or 2 while frying!

Reviews

[TGirl]

These cookies are worth every minute it takes to make them!! The lemon and orange zest add a great element of flavor, and I'll tell you a secret..I snuck WAY more than 1 or 2 !! They are rich, crisp, and absolutely wonderful !! I left the cognac out because I didn't have any--the cookies were terrific just the same!! I'm going to add these little gems to my Christmas Cookie list of 'must haves'--will make many times in the future!!! THANK YOU!!! Teresa

 

[Jillian1222]

OMG! My sister and I grew up getting these every year for Christmas from a her godfather and I finally attempted to made them this year myself and surprise my sister :-) They were amazing! She loved them too. Thank you for this recipe! Also for people who are lazy like me, I used the dough to made some cookies right away and saved half in the fridge for the next day and they were still the same. Just double wrap in plastic wrap. But I rolled the second batch wayy thinner and fried as I cut and they taste just as I remember when they are thinner :-)

 

[57484]

No Polish Christmas Eve would be complete without this tasty treat. Although I don't make it with the lemon or orange additives, the recipe is just the same. I do have a hint that will either save you time or give you more time to make more!! My sister and I use our pasta maker to crank out the dough. What used to hours takes slightly more than one hour ..providing we don't make sure that the cognac isn't spoiled......Hope this helps! Merry Christmas to ALL! Jan

 

[LoneStarLola]

This is the recipe we have always used, spelled Csorege in my Grandmother's Hungarian cookbook. These were the cookies we kids asked for on special occasions, we even had a rhyme about these, same as the "I scream for ice cream" rhyme but "I shriek-y for ka-shreeg-eee" instead. These never last more than fifteen minutes in our house and Christmas isn't Christmas without these. Soooo good. We save these for special occasions because they're a little time-consuming to make, but they are definitely worth the effort. Make sure you flour the heck out of your rolling surfaces because this dough sticks like crazy.

 

[Vina7737]

This is the exact recipe I have for these wonderful things. The only difference being, we always called them "favorki". Different name, same wonderful cookie. They are also incredible drizzled with honey right before eating. Definitely worth the trouble and time.