Crisp. Rich. Not too sweet. Kruschiki (Chruschiki or Polish Bowties) have more than a taste. They have a feel that I couldn’t begin to describe. And they are beautiful.
THIS is the cookie of my childhood. A special part of my Polish heritage. We made them every year. And I yearn for a life where time for such things exists. Making Kruschiki takes hours. It’s been 2 years since I’ve made them, and it was probably 15 years before that.
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My friend Cristina loves to hear people’s stories. She wants to know who you are, where you came from, what makes you tick. She wants to know your heritage, your traditions, your food.
She is why I made Kruschiki 2 years ago. I don’t know when I’ll make them again, but today I can’t stop thinking about them, and so I can at least tell you about them.
Kruschiki dough is rich in eggs, and contains a shot of brandy. I remember eating raw dough as a child and feeling all warm inside.
The dough is rolled thin, cut into rectangles, twisted into bows, and deep fried to a golden crispness.
Kruschiki puff when fried, so there are air pockets when you bite them. Crispy, airy, delicious!
What special treats send you straight back to your childhood?
Kruschiki (Chruschiki) Polish Bow Ties
Ingredients
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 4 egg yokes at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1 shot brandy
- lard or oil for frying
Instructions
- Beat eggs, egg yolks, salt and butter until thick and lemon colored.
- Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and brandy.
- Slowly mix in flour.
- Knead the dough for 3–5 minutes. The dough should be thick and will be a bit sticky.
- To roll, you will be working with small balls of dough. Keep the rest of the dough in the bowl, covered with a clean, damp dish towel.
- On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out very thin - 1/8th of an inch.
- Take a sharp knife and cut the dough into strips about 2" wide. Then cut the other way on a diagonal to make pieces of dough that are about 2" x 4".
- Cut a small slit (1" or less) in the center of each piece. To form the cookie, take one end and place it through the slit. Very gently pull the end of the dough through the slit to form a bow shaped cookie.
- In a large pot or deep skillet heat about 3–4 inches of lard or oil until very hot.
- Test the oil by putting in a small scrap of dough; it should sink to the bottom and then immediately float to the top. When this happens your oil is ready.
- Fry the cookies in small batches. Fry for about 30 seconds and then use tongs to gently turn the cookies over. The cookies should be barely golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels. Cool.
- Dust liberally with powdered sugar.
- Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
Thank you for visiting Learning And Yearning. May "the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Num 6:24-26
Cristina says
<3<3<3 that was a great day. Sniff.
learningandyearning says
🙂
deb says
Susan, what is it that takes so long? I’d love to make these to celebrate MY Polish heritage!
Do you twist the dough before putting it through the slit?
Thanks, once again, for an inspiring post. Love your photos. Love your writing!
learningandyearning says
Hi Deb, I think because the dough is rolled so thin, it seems like it never ends. The frying takes time because only so many fit in the pot, and it needs to be watched constantly, so once you start frying, you cannot be doing anything else. And there seems to be a lot of clean up. I enjoy all of it, but I wouldn’t attempt this unless I knew I had several free hours.
You do not twist the dough before pulling it through the slits; at least we never did. Glad you visited, and glad you enjoyed!
George says
You had me when you fried them. Merry Christmas!
learningandyearning says
That’s what makes them so crisp and puffy! Merry Christmas to you, too!
Kristin Pucker says
I loved these as a kid. My mom would also drizzle honey over them and then add the powdered sugar. Yummy!
learningandyearning says
Oh, wow! What a wonderful idea. I will definitely have to try that. When was the last time you remember having these?
Christy Koch says
This is the same recipe my family uses. I make them every other Christmas. We travel cross country to my in laws every other year, so I don’t make them since they don’t travel well. Using a deep fryer significantly cuts down on the time. I have a rectangular one with a basket, and you get much more even coloring and can cook more at once. I remember as a kid going to my great aunt’s and seeing the entire dining room table covered in tea towels and kruschiki. Good memories. I’m pretty sure my cousins look forward to the years we stay here just because I make them.
Christy Koch says
Incidentally, as soon as my toddler goes down for his nap, I’ll be starting this year’s batch. 🙂
learningandyearning says
It’s good to know that people still take the time to make sure that Christmas traditions and ethnic food recipes don’t die. The fryer sounds like a good idea! Nothing wrong with modern conveniences making our old traditions easier. My bread machine is the only reason we get fresh baked sprouted wheat bread a few times a week! Think of this stranger when you bite into one of those cookies this year!! And thanks for stopping by.
Jennifer Ward-Pelar says
The pictures are beautiful. I could almost taste them!
learningandyearning says
Almost makes you wish you were Polish, now doesn’t it? 🙂
Jennifer Ward-Pelar says
It so does!
Jennifer Ward-Pelar says
I copied down Marty’s list and put it on my fridge to think about and read often. Thank you.
learningandyearning says
This will please Joy; I’ll let her know!
Jennifer Ward-Pelar says
🙂
Italics Mine says
I’ve never made Kruschiki, but I want to give them a whirl. From your experience, can you answer me this:
1) to simplify the recipe (even at some loss in perfection) can I put the ingredients in a bread machine on dough cycle to knead the dough?
2) my partner is allergic to alcohol. Is there a substitute for the shot of brandy?
3) is there a particular oil that works best: vegetable? cannola? Crisco solid shortening? etc; and is a name brand of oil just as good as the store brand?
Many thanks
Jimmy
learningandyearning says
Hi Jimmy! I’m so glad you are going to give this a try. I have no experience at all with anything other than mixing this by hand, so I really don’t know how this would work in a bread machine. If you decide to try it, let me know how it worked. It’s a very sticky dough, and I put flour on my hands frequently to keep the dough from sticking. The alcohol evaporates with cooking. If that is still not acceptable, I think you could leave it out altogether or even try something like rum extract. The recipe calls for brandy, but I remember my mom using different kinds of whisky as well, so I think the rum extract would be a good substitute. Oh, but extracts have alcohol in them, too, don’t they? The alcohol gives the cookie a nice flavor, but I think it would still be good without it. As far as the oil, you can use any type or brand, including a store brand, that lends itself to high cooking temperatures. I seem to remember my mother using Crisco shortening, but I don’t use hydrogenated oils, so I used a high oleic safflower oil the last time I made these. I hope this helps, and that the cookies turn out perfectly for you.
Christine Shumate says
You don’t have to add any alcohol. My family’s recipe doesn’t have any.
Jeannie Gabrynowicz says
I never thought it possible, but we accomplish this big undertaking by making it a neighborhood party/project. I supply the supper party and my neighbors supply the elbow grease! I have the dough mixed in advance and I use my pasta machine to roll the dough out thinly. Then we break up into informal teams and folks feed the pasta machine to make the sheets, others cut and make the bowties. I fill the deep fryer while someone else has the all-important job of turning and scooping out the finished Kruschiki and then sprinkling on the powdered sugar.
Believe it or not we’ve been doing this for about 5 years and as long as you have neighbors willing to dedicate themselves for an hour shift or so, it all works out beautifully. Everyone takes home a tin of the finished product and we have lovely memories to carry us through another year. *Full disclosure- I never dreamed this would work so well. An Irish/Polish neighbor begged me to include him in my project one year and that’s how the party originated. It really is counter-intuitive since the ‘project’ is so labor intensive and time critical! Merry Christmas!
Susan says
Wow! How blessed your neighbors are to have you! You’ve made me smile.
Mary Nagy says
It is always a treat when I bring the dough, rolling pin, flour, powdered sugar, and my electric frying pan into my 8th grade classroom and share my Polish heritage with my highly Latino culture of students. They enjoy learning about my family background and love the end product. One substitution I do make, however, is rum flavoring for actual rum. Either way, they are a piece of heaven, and a memory I can make with my students.
Susan says
Oh, that is so sweet! That must be a highlight of the year!
Patrick says
Or you could just buy them from Chruscikies.com. It’s a family-run company in Pennsylvania. They’ll forward orders as gifts to others too.
Frances says
I’m not Polish but reminds me of what my mama made from left over dumpling dough. After she rolled out the dumplings very thin and cut them into strips, she took the extra ones and put thme on a cookie sheet and sprinled salt on them and baket them. They puffed up and tasted sorta like Saltine crackers but much better to us.anyway
She also fried ocrnbread similar to this, so crispy and good. We ate it with peas and beans.
Sure brings back good memories.
Susan Vinskofski says
Those memories are treasures, aren’t they?
Sherry says
I have never made these, but remember my grandmother making them when I was a young girl or early teens. I love them and have not had them, since I was a girl, I am 59 now and I think I might make them today as my random act of Kindness for neighbor today!
Susan Vinskofski says
Have fun!!!
Toni says
Just made these for my best friends children for their ethnic food feast at school !!!! I had to hide the cookies everyone in the house couldn’t stop eating them lol!!! My family name is Podjaski so these cookies happen every year for us! Couldn’t find my grandmas recipe, this was spot on!! Thank you soooo much!!!!!!
Susan Vinskofski says
They are the best cookie ever, aren’t they!!!
Christine Shumate says
I just made these today!!! We have a different family recipe with no alcohol and I made half a recipe. The full one take so much longer!! We then handed out plates to the neighbors and divvied the rest out for our two family parties. I keep wanting to add more flavor to them, though. They are delicious, but a little plain.
Susan Vinskofski says
Christine, I think the alcohol adds a lot of flavor but it’s good to know you can make them without.
peg says
How far in advance can I make these for Christmas and can I freeze them. I want to surprise my son at Christmas. My mother I n law made these every Christmas for the kids and he has mentioned sever times he would love to have his Busia’s cookies again.
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Peg, I’m afraid that I have never frozen these, and I don’t remember my mom doing so either. I hate to give advice when I have no experience, but I would imagine that it would be ok to freeze them.
Sascha says
I’m looking for a good kruschiki recipe and noticed most other recipies call for sour cream or heavy cream. Yours does not have this ingredient listed. Have you tried it with and without?
I did notice yours look puffier than other ones as well. Any thoughts?
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Sascha, I really don’t have any explanation why my family’s recipe doesn’t have sour cream. It does seem to be traditional. This is just how my mom and grandmother always made them. Thanks for stopping by.
Grace Wykoff says
This is the same recipe I use and I love it. The last time we made them it was me, my son, his fiance, and his son. My husband hid in the barn. We had a wonderful time and there was confectioners sugar everywhere. It was quite and event but took more than an hour. My granddaughter is getting married in May and I was hoping they could be frozen.
Susan Vinskofski says
Sounds like a wonderful time! I don’t ever remember my mom freezing them, but we would make them ahead of Christmas and keep them for weeks in a cool spot. Congratulations to your granddaughter!
Amy says
Can you freeze the dough to be fried up another time
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Amy, although I’ve never frozen the dough, I don’t see why you couldn’t. I’ve certainly frozen other cookie dough and pie crust.