My sister, Angi, passed away in 2017, and earlier in the year, before she was diagnosed with cancer, we had talked about exchanging recipes. Mom gave me the recipes (verbally and through demonstration) through the years as I was growing up and into my adult years. I was a little confused though. Mama's people were from Germany. so how was it that she came to make a classic Norweigian cookie? The answer lay in the place in which she grew up.
Mama was raised in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Like so many there, Mama's people were immigrants as were a large swath of people from Norway and Sweden, and with them, they brought their recipes, one of which was the Fattigmann.
"These were an easy cookie to make during the depression," Mama told me, "because they have very few, but easy to obtain, ingredients. "But mother left out the liquor" she told me. "Instead she used apple juice." Mama was very strict about the use of alcohol and insisted that it never be kept in the home, although- Daddy allowed for Cooking Wine!
Anyway, I used to sit and watch Mama make these, from beginning to end. And one day she asked if I would like to help her fold the fattigmann's. I was SO thrilled!
Many years would pass after I left home and I would neglect to make these crispy, fried cookies. I guess that because they really need to be eaten immediately (or shortly after cooking) I didn't want to use them. But when my Sissie asked for the recipe, a flood of memories returned.
These cookies became a Christmas tradition in our home growing up. I hope you like making them and eating them as much as we did.
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 whole eggs
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup thick cream
- 1 tbsp brandy
- dash salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 c. flour
- pinch of cardamom
- With a spoon, stir together the eggs (all) the sugar, brandy, cream, salt, vanilla, and cardamom.
- Fold in, but do not over-stir, the flour until it's not sticky.
- Divide into thirds and roll out flat on a lightly floured surface.
- Using a ruler, create diamond shapes, and then cut a slit in the center of each diamond.
- Pull one tip through the slit to make a bow.
- Fry in oil at 350 degrees until light brown.
- Let cool slightly before dusting with powdered sugar.
NOTE, if you're not good at cutting diamond shapes, you can either buy a Fattigmann cutter or you can make your own diamond shapes cutting with a knife. If you plan on making these delicious cookies more than a time or two a year, I suggest getting the cutter.
With the cutter, you will want to run the blades through flour before making your cuts.
Also, these are not something that's easy to come by (you can find persons' selling theirs on eBay and Amazon, etc. but the better ones will come from the company's that make them, at a greater price but they're new, not used.)
My Mom didn't have one of these. At least I never saw her with one. What she did have was a single blade cutter called a pastry cutter. These leave a decorative edge as well. But you will need to measure out your cuts and make straight lines if you want perfection.