My mother loved Kringles. What are they? A Scandinavian confectionary pastry, multiple layers of thin, flaky baked dough, in a horseshoe shape, with layers separated by a wide variety of your choice of fillings/toppings like berry, almond, chocolate and the like. More on the origin. My mother, or parents, really, took delight in having certain things brought in that were either rare in our city, or banned outright. For years, margarine was illegal in Minnesota, a supposed challenge to the dairy industry, so someone would run to Michigan and get a car load. Our maple syrup came in massive quantities of one gallon cans, annually, direct from a producer in the Northeast.
And once a year, a Greek fisherman from Florida would come by and sell natural sponges.
And such was the case with “Kringles,” as everyone in the Upper Midwest believe the best ones come from O&H, a bakery in Racine, WI. They make large variety of flavors year round, supplemented by seasonal favorites. My mother thought these were “Christmas-y” and someone a number of them were transported to our house in time for the holiday season from a bakery 400 miles away. My mother preferred almond ones, my father, berry flavor.
Stopped by O&H’s newest outlet the other day, they are dealing with quite a crowd this time of year, and have plenty of goods, freshly baked, and read to go. It’s a full service bakery, they also have nearly every kind of sweet roll, cookie, and loaf bread you can imagine, and all excellent.
If you’re inclined, order your own Kringles directly from them, online. They even have a “Kringle of the Month” club. You’ll also find the Kringles available at many Upper Midwest groceries.
O&H Bakery