Kleugans

Every Christmas, my grandmother used to make what everyone called kleugans (pronounced klidgens), bite-sized anise cookies. I’ve even found the recipe–such as it is–in my mother’s collection of typed, 3×5 recipe cards. I remember my mother making these, too. She’d mix the dough, roll it out in logs about an inch in diameter, then slice the logs to make little cylynders about half an inch tall. She’d cook them on cookie sheets and get a zillion or so bite-sized cookies.

I’ve made them myself, but it’s been years since my last venture with them. My extended family–my cousins–have lo

As nearly as I can tell, kleugans are a variation on traditional Pfeffernusse Cookies, or perhaps Danish peppernodder cookies. My great-grandparents originally came from parts of Jutland where Frisian was spoken, so this is perhaps of Frisian origin. In any case, the recipe in the link above is similar, and the photos in that link certainly coincide with what I remember doing when I’ve made these. The pictures on this post are all from the above link.

The recipe below mentions non-stick baking mats. If you plan on spending any time baking cookies, I highly recommend these, sized to match your cookie sheets. They make clean-up a snap and you never have to worry about whether or not to grease your sheet. Similar mats are also handy when rolling out pie dough or–in the case of these cookies–the logs that turn into bite-sized cookies. The photo at right is from the above-linked blog showing what the rolls look like on a silicon rolling mat before being trimmed into cookies and baked.

The recipe below is from my mother’s recipe card, except she didn’t include how much flour to use (enough to make a “stiff dough” is all she said). She also didn’t include anything about rolling out the dough, chilling it, or how long to cook it. That’s all from my own memory of making these a couple of decades ago. I stopped making them since no one but me liked them and, well, a zillion cookies is a lot of cookies. On this post, I’ve cut her recipe in half, so you’ll only get a half a zillion cookies.

Margaret Starry

Kleugans

Bite-sized anise cookies

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Course: Snack

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 C sugar
• 1/4 C Molasses
• 1/4 C hot water
• 1/2 C shortenin;g
• 1/2 C butter at room temperature
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 C anise seed
• 3-4 C flour (enough to make a "stiff dough")

Optional Spices

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Equipment

• 1 Cookie sheet
• 1 Non-stick baking mats for cookie sheets Highly recommended for making cookies!
• 1 Non-stick mat for rolling dough Highly recommended for pie dough, bread, or rolls.

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
3. In your stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a separate bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the sugar, molasses, hot water, shortening, and butter
4. blend in the egg
5. Add the flour mixture in thirds, blending after each addition. The dough will be thick and should clean the sides of the bowl.
6. Cover and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator
7. Once the dough is chilled, divide it into quarters or eighths, and form each quarter into a ball. Place one ball on a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap and roll it into a log that's about 3/4-1 inch in diameter. Using a bench scraper, cut the log into cylinders about 1/2-3/4 inch tall. Scatter the cylinders (flat-side down) on your baking sheet until it's full. The cookies won't spread, so you can get a lot of cookies on one sheet, but you'll need to do this several times. You're going to get a LOT of cookies!
8. Bake for 10-14 minutes until golden brown. Check at 10 minutes.
9. Let cool on the cookie sheet for at least ten minutes before storing.