Berlinerkranser (Berlin Crown Cookies)

By Charlie

Published Nov. 24, 2025

This light and buttery classic Norwegian Christmas cookie is sure to be a showstopper. The traditional recipe uses soft wheat flour, which typically has around 9% protein. This can sometimes be difficult to find in the US. Standard all-purpose flour has around 11-12% protein, while cake flour has around 8% protein. These cookies, and many of my other nordic baking recipes, use a combination of all-purpose and cake flour to approximate the qualities of soft wheat flour. If you have access to soft wheat flour, use 2 ½ cups of soft wheat flour. Many specialty stores in the US carry Swedish pearl sugar. I have seen it at the Fresh Market and World Market. Pearl sugar gives a distinct nordic appearance to these cookies. However, if you do not have pearl sugar, sprinkling additional granulated sugar on the cookies before baking will do just fine.

Print Recipe

Berlinerkranser

Servings: 50 cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cake flour
  • 18 tbsp butter (2 ¼ sticks)

Pearl Sugar Coating

  • 1 tbsp whole milk
  • 1 egg yolk
  • pearl sugar

Instructions

  • Hard boil the two eggs. Remove the hard-boiled egg yolks and press them through a strainer into a bowl. Add the two raw egg yolks and the granulated sugar and whisk until well combined.
  • Add the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and butter to the egg and sugar mixture. Use a spatula or hands to mix until the dough forms a ball. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 400F. Remove small pieces from the dough and roll each piece into thin cord of approximately 5-6 inches in length. Place each cord in the shape of a ribbon with ends overlapping on a prepared baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
  • Whisk together the milk and one egg yolk to make a glaze which can be brushed on top of each of the crowns. Dust the crowns with pearl sugar. Bake until the crowns just start to slightly darken in color, about 5-7 minutes.