How to Make Tirolean Kiachl – the Austrian Croissant

As a little girl it felt like my father could do anything. One of his magic tricks was cooking a specific dish synonymous with Tirol: Kiachl. I still remember the smell and sound in our home when he made them. Kiachln are doughy discs traditionally served with Sauerkraut, though these days you will also find them dished up with several other accompaniments such as cranberries. Now that I'm all grown up, it's time for me to learn for myself how to make Kiachln. And who better to teach me than the master himself?

Ingredients

• 1 kilo of finely ground flour
• 1 litre of warm milk
• 2 sachets of dried yeast
• 3 eggs, 65 grammes butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of sugar
• Clarified butter (or good-quality sunflower oil)

Preparation

Mix the yeast, salt and sugar with the flour in a bowl (ideally with a lid). Place the eggs in a different bowl and beat them. Add these eggs to the other mixture and mix carefully. Melt the butter in a pan and then add the melted butter to the egg-and-flour mixture. Carefully add the warm milk and mix gently. Use an electric handmixer for five minutes on the highest power setting. The dough is ready when small bubbles start to form on the surface.

Sprinkle a little flour on the dough to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the lid when it rises. Place the lid on the bowl and place the bowl in warm water. If the lid pops open, close it again and do this a total of three times. When the lid pops open a third time, the dough is ready to be taken out.

Sprinkle plenty of flour onto the surface where you will be rolling out the dough. Knead the dough one more time and then cut it into pieces approximately 20cm in diameter. Take each piece and pull it apart gently, making sure that you don’t create a hole in the middle. Warm the clarified butter, then place each Kiachl into the warm butter one by one and cook until golden brown. Serve with Sauerkraut or cranberry jam. Alternatively, you can eat it on its own with a sprinkling of icing sugar.

Mix the yeast, salt and sugar with the flour in a bowl.

Place the eggs in a different bowl and beat them.

Add these eggs to the other mixture and mix carefully.

Melt the butter in a pan and then add the melted butter to the egg-and-flour mixture.

Carefully add the warm milk and mix gently.

Use an electric handmixer for five minutes on the highest power setting. The dough is ready when small bubbles start to form on the surface.

Leave the dough to rise.

Place the dough on a work surface with plenty of flour, then cut it into pieces.

Form the individual Kiachln with your hands, making sure you don’t make a hole in the middle.

Warm the clarified butter without making it too hot. Add each Kiachl one by one and cook until golden brown.

That’s it! Serve with Sauerkraut, cranberry jam or simply a sprinkling of icing sugar.