Kolasnittar-Caramel Slices from Kantine
Okay, I cannot tell a lie, my geography knowledge sucks. I sat down to write this post on one of my favorite bakeries in San Francisco, Kantine, and on the cookbook, Scandinavian From Scratch, by owner, Nichole Accettola. Tap, tap, tap on my keyboard, “Heavenly Scandinavian pastries inspired by her time in Copenhagen”, WAIT. Isn’t Copenhagen in Denmark? Didn’t she live in Scandinavia? Is that a country? But her Jam Caves are Swedish. I quickly Googled Scandinavia. Holey Moley, Scandinavia refers to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Nordic refers to the Scandinavian countries PLUS Finland and Iceland. Uh, where does Switzerland fit in, all those ⛰️ and 🏞️? My bad, it doesn’t. 🤦🏻♀️ It took a cookbook and delicious pastries for me to learn my geography..sheesh.
I DIGRESS
I stopped by Kantine to get coffee and a treat. Lucky for me, Nichole was there (I’m a cookbook groupie) for a couple of questions, a photo-op, and a quick conversation. She recommended the Kolasnittar, a simple, unassuming flat, rhombus-shaped cookie. One bite and I knew I was going home and baking those bad boys. They’re buttery, caramel-forward, with crispy edges, and a slightly chewy center. What a cookie.
Get this Cookie Party Started
I gathered the ingredients for Kolasnittar or Caramel Slices and realized I didn’t have corn syrup. So I rummaged through my pantry and pulled out the Golden Syrup. Golden Syrup is made from sugar cane and has caramel undertones due to the manufacturing process. It worked like a charm.
The process for making these cookies is “kinda” like making biscotti without twice baking. The dough is shaped into logs and then flattened into a strip. If you have a scale, weigh the dough and divide it into 4 equal portions or just eyeball it. Roll each piece into a 12-inch log and transfer the log to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place two rolls on each cookie sheet, be sure to space them out (min. 2.5 inches in between). Flatten each log into a 1/2-inch thick, 1.5-inches wide strip, keeping each around 12-inch length. The dough will spread quite a bit while baking.
Take the cookies out when the edges are darker brown and the middle golden brown. Remove from oven and slide cookies and parchment onto a cutting board. While the cookies are still warm, slice each loaf diagonally into 1-1/2 inch wide strips.
Let them cool completely.
Enjoy!
KOLASNITTAR (Caramel Slice Cookie)
Ingredients
Butter Mixture
- 7 ounces 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 200g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup. 100g Substitute Golden Syrup 1:1
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 300g King Arthur preferred
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher or flaky sea salt I use Diamond Kosher, for table salt, use 1/2 teaspoon
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets (approximately 13x17 inches, 33x46cm) with parchment paper. Preferably sheets without a lip.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla on medium speed, beating until it’s soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer midway to scrape down the sides.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix until it’s well combined. Do not overbeat.
- Lightly flour the countertop and scrape the dough onto the counter, kneading it gently until it’s smooth. Divide the dough into four equal parts. A scale really helps here.
- Roll each portion into a log that’s 12 inches (30cm) long. If the dough cracks lengthwise while you’re rolling it, roll the dough a little toward you and use your thumbs to coerce the dough into the crack, then finish rolling the log, easing dough back into the crack as you go. Don’t worry if the logs are not perfectly smooth. They’re going to spread quite a bit when baked.
- Place each dough log, evenly spaced on the baking sheet, (2 logs per sheet) then press the logs down to flatten them so they’re about 1/2-inch (1cm) thick and 1 1/2 inches (3,5cm) wide. Make sure there’s at least 2 inches (5cm) of space between each log and at least an inch (2,5cm) away from the edges of the pan.
- Refrigerate the dough on the baking sheets for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and adjust the racks in the oven to the top and bottom third of the oven. Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets and switching them on the racks, from top to bottom, midway during baking.
- I usually bake one sheet at a time. Halfway through rotate the sheet. (If you want to bake them later, cover them with kitchen towels and keep them in the refrigerator.) Bake until the dough is golden brown across the top with browned edges, 16 to 18 minutes.
- Slide parchment paper with cookie logs onto a cutting board.
- Cut the flat, former cookie logs diagonally and crosswise each cookie should be 1.5 inches in width. Transfer the cookies from the baking sheets to a cooling rack. Cool completely.