Fattigmand Recipes

FATTIGMAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Cream together eggs, sugar, and brandy, if using.
• Stir in melted butter.
• Gently fold whipped cream into batter.
• Sift together flour, cardamom, baking powder, and salt.
• With a light hand, mix dry ingredients into batter to form a soft dough. You want to avoid handling dough too much. Otherwise, cookies will end up tough.
• Chill dough, covered, for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
• Roll chilled dough out on a floured board to a thickness of 1/8 inch.
• Using a fattigman cutter or a pastry cutter, cut dough into diamond shapes about 1 1/4-inch wide by 3 1/2 inches long. If you're using a pastry cutter, cut dough first into 1 1/4-inch strips and then cut across these diagonally to form diamonds.
• Use a knife to cut a 1/2-inch slash in the middle of each diamond.
• Twist one corner of each diamond up through center slash to make a knot.
• Heat 2 inches of oil in the bottom of a heavy pot to 375 F.
• Drop in pastry knots and fry until golden brown, turning occasionally.
• Remove and drain on paper towels.
• Sprinkle cookies with vanilla sugar or confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.

FATTIGMAN

Steps:

• Beat together egg yolks and sugar.
• Whisk in cream.
• Stir in cognac and spices.
• Beat egg white until it's stiff and carefully stir into other ingredients.
• Mix in a little more than half of the flour.
• Let dough stand, covered and in a cool place, overnight.
• Use the remaining flour (as little as possible) for rolling out the dough; the less flour you use, the more tender the fattigman will be.
• Roll the dough out a little at a time and as thinly as possible.
• Use a fattigmann cutter to cut out diamond shapes.
• Make a small diagonal cut in the center of each diamond, and "thread" one point of the diamond through the cut.
• Heat lard to 350º F.
• Fry fattigman until golden brown.
• You must flip the fattigman to brown both sides.
• A chop sticks works great for this.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Best when 2 people work on these, one cutting/flipping and the other flipping in the hot oil.

FATTIGMAN (NORWEGIAN COOKIES)

Steps:

• 1. Beat egg yolks and salt until thick and light in color. Add in cream, sugar and butter. Mix well.
• 2. Add flour and cardamom to egg mixture. Mix well. Chill one hour.
• 3. Roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time, keeping the rest of the dough in the refrigerator. Roll a 1/16 inch thick rectangle. Using a fattigman cutter or a pastry cutter cut in 1 1/2-inch wide strips then cut diagonally at 4-inch intervals (making diamonds). Cut a 1 inch slit lengthwise in center of each piece. Slip one end of the diamond through the cut and pull through gently.
• 4. Fry a few at a time in hot oil (350*) for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

TRADITIONAL NORWEGEN COOKIES - FATTIGMANN (84)

Steps:

• Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and yellow. Add cream, and flour mixed with baking powder and cinnamon or cardamom. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and add more flour, enough to make a pliable dough.
• Chill. Roll out dough as thin as possible and cut into diamond shapes with knife or fluted pastry wheel. Make a slit in center of each diamond and pull the tip end of diamond through slit as far as it will go.
• Drop into hot oil or shortening (350 F). Fry like doughnuts, but only until very lightly browned. They cook almost as fast as they are put into the hot shortening, so they must be turned and taken out quickly. Drain on paper and sprinkle with sugar.