Tulip Time in Pella: Dutch Letters & Norwegian Kringla Recipes for Spring
29th Apr 2025
As spring arrives in full force, the tulips and daffodils are popping up and getting ready to burst into bloom. This time of year I fondly reminisce about the thousands of tulips as they fully display their beauty in Pella, Iowa during Tulip Time, the city’s yearly celebration. And then my thoughts move to a popular treat sold in Pella’s local bakeries—Dutch Letters!
This year, I decided it was time to make my own Dutch Letters, a pastry made of a puff pastry which encases an almond paste center. While you can purchase premade puff pastry in most grocery stores and almond paste at Norsland Lefse to save time and effort, I decided to make both the pastry and almond paste myself. The cookies are traditionally shaped like the letter “S”; supposedly to represent Sinterklaas, the Dutch equivalent of Santa Claus.
In researching Norwegian treats, I found a recipe for Kringla, a cookie often shaped like a letter B. I decided to also make the Kringla cookies (not to be mistaken for Kringle which is a coffee cake.) Although both cookies are made in the shape of letters, they have very little in common otherwise.
The Dutch Letters are large, a ten-inch strip of dough is filled with an almond paste filling, rolled into a cigar shape and formed into a large letter S. The Kringla are formed from a third of a heaping tablespoon of sticky dough which is rolled to the diameter of a pencil and shaped into a much smaller cookie. Both cookies have a good portion of dairy products, but the Dutch Letters boast a generous supply of butter while the Kringla has an equally generous supply of sour cream. The Dutch Letters are crispy and flaky; the Kringla are soft and have a cake-like texture.
Recipes for Dutch Letters, almond paste, and Norwegian Kringla are below with step-by-step photos included.
Dutch Letters Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound butter, cut into ½” slices and chilled
- 2 eggs
- 8 oz. almond paste (one cup)
- 2 egg whites
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup milk
- Large white sugar crystals or Swedish Pearl Sugar (available at Norsland Lefse)
Directions:
Step 1: Whisk flour and salt together in a large bowl; add butter slices and toss to coat butter evenly with the flour.
Step 2: Mix one egg with one cup cold water in a small bowl; add to flour-butter mixture and stir to form a loose dough.
Step 3: Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead until the dough comes together. Do not over knead.
Step 4: With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 15” by 10” rectangle. Fold the short sides to meet in the middle; then fold once again like a book.
Step 5: Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding technique again.
Step 6: Wrap the dough rectangle in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Step 7: Unwrap the dough and repeat the rolling and folding technique twice more, rotating the dough 90 degrees and repeat rolling and folding again.
Step 8: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap again and refrigerate for an hour.
Step 9: In a medium bowl mix almond paste (either homemade or purchased) with one egg white on medium speed with a hand mixer.
Step 10: Add remaining egg white, both white and brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; beat until smooth and set aside until using it to fill the cookies.
Step 11: Whisk the remaining egg and milk in a small bowl to prepare an egg wash for the cookies.
Step 12: After the dough has been chilled for an hour, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Transfer one piece to a floured surface and return the other three to the refrigerator until needed.
Step 13: Roll the dough into a 12 ½” by 10” rectangle; cut the rectangle into five even strips each ten inches long and about 2 ½ inches wide.
Step 14: Put a heaping tablespoon of almond paste filling lengthwise down the center of the strip, spreading it with your fingers.
Step 15: Use a pastry brush to brush egg wash down one side of the strip.
Step 16: Beginning with the dry side, roll the strip into a cigar shape; truck the ends of the strip under to seal in the filling.
Step 17: Transfer the rolls, seam side down to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and form into a pan “s” shape. Repeat with remaining dough.
Step 18: Brush the cookies with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with either large crystal white sugar or Swedish Pearl Sugar.
Step 19: Bake the cookies two sheets at a time for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown, rotating them once halfway through baking. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.
Homemade Almond Paste Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 ⅓ cups almond flour
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1 large egg white
- 1 ⅓ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl or mix in a food processor, pulsing until the mixture is completely combined. One cup equals about 8 oz. Refrigerate if using later.
Norwegian Kringla Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 3 egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- Extra flour for rolling
Directions:
Step 1: Mix egg yolks, sugar, sour cream and salt with a hand mixer on medium speed.
Step 2: Add baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla and combine mixture, beating on low speed.
Step 3: add the flour and beat until well mixed.
Step 4: The dough will be quite thin and sticky. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
Step 5: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; move the oven rack to the top position.
Step 6: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and dust your work area with flour.
Step 7: Spoon a heaping tablespoon of dough onto the floured surface; roll the dough in flour and form a short cylinder.
Step 8: Cut the cylinder into thirds and form each third into a pencil sized roll. I found it is easiest to do this in your flour-dusted hand; the dough is quite sticky. Don’t work too much flour into the dough or it will become tough.
Step 9: Form your letter “B,” curling each end up and to the center of the roll. Do not place the cookies too close together; they rise quite a bit when baking. Do not roll the dough too thin or the cookies will not rise.
Step 10: Bake on the top rack of your oven so the cookies will not over bake and become hard. Bake just until there is a small bit of browning on the top of the cookie—about seven minutes. Cool on a rack. These cookies stay very soft when stored in Tupperware and freeze well.
I enjoyed making both the Dutch Letters and the Kringla. Each appeals to me in different ways. When I made the Kringla, I decided to experiment with making different letters. Since the Kringla rise in baking, it was easy to form any letter I wanted by just adding shorter pieces of the rolled cookie to make the cross pieces for “A,” “I,” “J,” and “T.” Now I have personalized cookies for our next family get together! The Dutch Letters with their filling were too difficult to make many other letters; I decided to stick with making the “S” in this case.
As you can tell, I really enjoy playing with my food. We’ll have some tasty treats to enjoy as we sit back and enjoy the blooms of spring! I hope you too have fun making these letter cookies! Happy Spring; Happy Tulip Time!
Letters:Step-by-Step Pictures
1. The pound of butter cut into 1/2” slices and chilled.
2. The butter mixed into the flour mixture before adding the egg/water to form a loose dough.
3. Rough dough is placed on a floured surface and kneaded to incorporate all ingredients.
4. Dough rolled into a 15” by 10” rectangle.
5. Ends of the rectangle of dough are folded to meet in the middle of the rectangle.
6. Dough is folded once again to form a “book” shape.
7. Dough is wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled for an hour.
8. Homemade almond paste is mixed and ready to go!
9. Dough is cut into four parts.
10. One of the four pieces of dough is rolled into a 12 1/2 inch by 10 inch rectangle and cut crosswise into five equal strips each measuring approximately 10” by 2 1/2”.
11. Almond paste filling is placed down the middle of each strip of dough and egg wash is brushed on one of the edges.
12. The strip of dough is rolled from the dry side of the strip to the egg washed side to form a cigar-shape.
13. Form the cookie in the shape of a letter “S” on the parchment paper covered baking sheet. When all cookies are formed, brush the tops with remaining egg wash and sprinkle generously with either large crystal sugar or Swedish Pearl Sugar.
14. Baked Dutch Letters (one rack has white sugar and one rack has Swedish Pearl Sugar topping the cookies
15. Dutch Letters are served!
Kringla Step-by-Step Pictures
1.Chilled dough is ready to form Kringla—one heaping tablespoon of dough is measured out onto the floured surface.
2. The dough is still soft and sticky. Roll into the flour on all sides and form a short cylinder with the dough.
3. Cut the cylinder into three pieces.
4. Roll each piece into a rope the diameter of a pencil.
5. Form the rope into a “B” shape on the parchment covered baking sheet. First pull up the ends to form a “c” and then bring the ends to the middle to finish the “B” shape.
6. Kringla are baked and cooled.
7. Kringla are ready to serve.
8. A comparison of the Dutch Letter cookies and the Kringla.
9. I decided to do other Kringla letters as well—Now family members each have their own initial cookie.
Tulip Pictures
All the tulip pics were taken at Pella, Iowa a few years ago. This year the city planted around 100,000 tulip bulbs! I just thought you might like some tulip pics to use for attention-grabbing! ?
