These German Sour Cream Twist Cookies are one of my favorite cookie recipes growing up. My grandmother would make these twisted sugar cookies often. These light and flaky cookies sprinkled with sugar are the perfect treats to satiate your sweet tooth. Get this sugar twist recipe and make them for your family today!
Growing up, I lived next door to my grandmother and after school, I would often walk over to say hello. She almost always had these cookies, Lebkuchen, or Kringla Cookies at the ready. If they weren’t fresh from the oven, then there would surely be some in the freezer. These twisted sugar cookies freeze really well! So make several batches.
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German Sour Cream Twist Cookies Recipe
This yeast cookie dough recipe comes from my paternal grandmother. She was a great baker. That’s her recipe card below. With these old recipes, you can tell which are well-loved and made often by the color of the paper. This one has bits missing and it’s stained from decades of use.
Want more cookie recipes? Try these:
- Spicy Double Dark Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Lemon Snow Drop Cookies
- Kringla Recipe for Traditional Norwegian Cookies
What You’ll Need to Make Twisted Sugar Cookies
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup cold salted butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup lard, shortening, or coconut oil
- 1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup cane sugar
My Grandmother grew up in an era where you didn’t use low-fat or low-calorie anything. So this recipe is made with real butter and regular sour cream (no low-fat or non-fat). I have tried to use lower fat versions and they don’t hold together as well.
The original cookie recipe calls for shortening. I have found that lard and coconut oil work just as well. I like this butter flavored coconut oil a LOT and will substitute it in many recipes that call for shortening.
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How to Make German Sour Cream Twists
This recipe is a labor of love and takes time. Just like many sugar cookie recipes, the dough has to be premade and chill in the refrigerator. This recipe also has yeast to give these cookies a flaky, pastry-like texture. That adds a bit of time too providing extra time for the yeast to develop. At a minimum, allow at least 2.5 hours for mixing/prep, chilling, and baking.
Here are step by step instructions for these sour cream pastry cookies
- Stir the yeast into a ¼ cup of lukewarm water, allowing it to dissolve.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour and salt.
- Add cold butter cubes and shortening, lard, or coconut oil into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
- In a second mixing bowl, combine sour cream, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
- Add dissolved yeast into the sour cream mixture and stir well to combine.
- Stir sour cream mixture into the bowl with other ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are combined and dough forms a rough ball. It’s okay if the dough isn’t completely smooth in texture. (Note: It’s easier if you use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.)
- Wrap dough with plastic wrap or transfer to a lidded storage bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but it’s best overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F degrees.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut the dough in half. Return one half to the refrigerator until ready to use.
- On a sugared surface, roll out the first section of dough into a 8×16 inch rectangle.
- Sprinkle with ½ cup sugar.
- Letter fold the sugared dough (long sides folding in)
- Roll the dough out again into an 8″x 16″ rectangle.
- Cut dough into 16 – ½” strips. Strips will be 8″ long and 1/2″ wide.
- Take each dough strip by the ends and twist it into a spiral. Pinch ends together and put on a silicone or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining dough being sure not to overcrowd the sheet.
- Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden brown.
- Remove baking sheets from the oven and using a spatula immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack. If left to cool on the baking sheet, the sugar will caramelize and the cookies will stick.
- Once completely cooled, store these twisted sugar cookies in an airtight container for up to a week or in the freezer.
German Sour Cream Twist Cookies
Soft and flaky pastry cookies that simply melt in your melt. This twisted sugar cookie recipe is family favorite.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup cold salted butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup lard, shortening, or coconut oil
- 1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup cane sugar
Instructions
- Stir the yeast into a ¼ cup of lukewarm water, allowing it to dissolve.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour and salt.
- Add cold butter cubes and shortening, lard, or coconut oil into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
- In a second mixing bowl, combine sour cream, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
- Add dissolved yeast into the sour cream mixture and stir well to combine.
- Stir sour cream mixture into the bowl with other ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are combined and dough forms a rough ball.
- Wrap dough with plastic wrap or transfer to a lidded storage bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F degrees.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut the dough in half. Return one half to the refrigerator until ready to use.
- On a sugared surface, roll out the first section of dough into a 8x16 inch rectangle.
- Sprinkle with ½ cup sugar.
- Letter fold the sugared dough (long sides folding in) .
- Roll the dough out again into a 8"x 16" rectangle.
- Cut dough into 16 - ½” strips. Strips will be 8" long and 1/2" wide.
- Take each dough strip by the ends and twist it into a spiral. Pinch ends together and place on a silicone or parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining dough being sure not to overcrowd the sheet.
- Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden brown.
- Remove baking sheets from the oven and using a spatula immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack. If left to cool on the baking sheet, the sugar will caramelize and the cookies will stick.
- Once completely cooled, store these twisted sugar cookies in an airtight container for up to a week or in the freezer.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
48Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 101Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 63mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g
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I missed a step in my original posting. The cookies are supposed to have sugar between the layers prior to twisting them. The recipe has been updated with the correct steps.
Hi Melissa, Thank you so much for hosting the party. You have a great site! Thanks for following our blog.
These look delicious and something I definitely want to make! Thanks for sharing at Foodie Friends Friday. Be sure to stop by and link up again next week!
These cookies are a recipe passed down from my grandmother. They are great cookies to make. Thanks for co-hosting the event Sarah. I’ll be sure to return.
I’m trying out your Gma’s recipe for our Oktoberfest, but I was a bit worried when reading the recipe card. Her recipe says to cut the fats into the flour and sugar, then later says to not add the sugar. I’m glad you cleared it all up!
HI Rebecca. That confused me too. Luckily, one of my aunts was able to clear it up. Please let me know how you enjoy the cookies. I’ll be sharing more German food this month for Oktoberfest. Please stop back by and find some other great recipes.
~Nicky
Thanks for posting this! You saved me. I wanted to make the dough tonight and couldn’t find my recipe. It has been a family favorite of ours for decades…the holidays aren’t the same without them!
So glad to find the Sour Cream Twists! My mother-in-law used to make these and they are one of my husband’s favorite cookies. I had scratched down the directions as I watched her make them one day, but got confused when I tried to make them later because my directions weren’t clear. Thanks for posting the pictures. So helpful! Will be making some this week end!
So happy to help out Mary Ann. I found my grandmother’s recipe after she passed. I used to make these cookies with her when I was little. I’d love to hear how they worked out for you.
Great recipe. I use a similar recipe to yours with slight modifications. Try if you like. 1) I always make a double batch (just double the ingredients). 2) I use butter flavor crisco and eliminate the butter. 2 c shortening to make the difference for a double batch. 3) I proof the yeast in warm water with a tsp of sugar (nothing like getting yeast that won’t activate!). 4) When rolling out dough I just use enough sugar to lightly cover the surface of the dough and then fold over in quarters until I can pin-roll the dough again. I do this either twice or three times if the dough doesn’t fall apart. 5) last but not least when working the dough, it warms up and starts falling apart. This last part I haven’t seen people recommend before. I bought a polished granite pastry board and a marble rolling pin. The night I make the dough I either bag them and set them outside to freeze over-night or since I have gotten a deep-freeze I set them there. The next day that I make them the cold board and pin help keep the dough together and make it more workable. 6) I use a pizza slicer to cut the dough into 1/2″ strips, fold once lengthwise and twist 1.5-2.5 times and press lightly onto a cookie sheet. I like your touch though with folding them in a tear-drop shape.
I love them idea of a cold pastry board. The dough sets hard to work with when it starts to warm up. I’ll have to try this next time. Thanks for the tip.
Oh and with a double batch I split the dough into thirds and perform the roll-outs and cookie sheet placements three times putting the dough back into the refrig each time. Sometimes I let the kids decorate the tops with extra sprinkles or colored sugar for the holidays.
That’s so awesome that this recipe was your grandmother’s! These look delicious!
Thanks for linking up at Gingham & Roses!
Hope to see you back next week!
Tenns @ New Mama Diaries
It was my pleasure to link up Tenns. Thanks for sharing my recipe. I look forward to make more parties with y’all.
Thanks Joanne. My grandmother always had these on hand. She’d store them in the freezer and we’d sneak a few every time we’d go visit. It’s hard to wait until the holidays. 🙂
I have never seen anyone other than my family with these cookies, my grandmother made these every year for Christmas. I make them now around the holidays if I have the time to devote too them. I always use lard have tried other things in its place and they don’t turn out quite right.