Rosette

Rosettes are those paper-thin, flower-shaped cookies that show up at every Scandinavian church bake sale and on Christmas cookie trays across the upper Midwest. The batter is barely more than flour, milk, sugar, and egg, thin enough to pour but with just enough body to grab a decorative cast iron mold on contact.

The magic happens in the technique. You heat a rosette iron (essentially a metal shape on a long handle) in hot shortening, dip the hot iron into cold batter up to the top but not over, then plunge it back into the oil. The batter clings to the iron, fries in seconds, and slides off as a crisp edible shape with a hollow center.

Drain on paper, cool, and dust heavily with powdered sugar. One batch makes about sixty cookies, and they snap like wafers between your teeth. Store in an airtight container so they stay crisp, which is the whole point.

Pro Tips

• Heat the iron in the oil for 10 seconds before dipping into batter. Cold iron means the batter will not cling, and you get lumps instead of rosettes.
• Dip the iron into batter only to the top, never over the edges. If batter coats the top of the iron, the rosette will not release cleanly.
• Keep the oil at 365°F (185°C). Too cool and rosettes get greasy; too hot and they burn before fully frying.
• If a rosette will not release, the iron was too dry or too hot. Tap gently with a fork to help, or thin the batter with a tablespoon of milk.
• Dust with powdered sugar after rosettes cool completely. Warm rosettes melt the sugar into a glaze, losing the snowy finish.

Variations

• Add ½ teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract to the batter for warmer flavor.
• Dip cooled rosettes in melted chocolate or fill them with whipped cream for a more elaborate dessert.
• Use lemon or orange zest in the batter for a citrus-scented version.