Just in time for Christmas, here’s a Swedish festive special for you all. “Anisbröd”, or Anise Bread, which is sometimes called Anisgrisar (Anise Pigs). I have absolutely no idea why they are called the latter. Apparently someone, once upon a time, decided that the shape of these resembles little piggies and thus the name stuck. Whatever name they go by, they’re delicious! Fluffy, sugary – but not too sweet, moreish little mouthfuls that are great for dunking in your morning coffee.
Normally I can’t stand the flavour of aniseed but I’ve discovered through my Swedish baking, both in this recipe and this one that when it’s in food like this it’s actually really good.
Whether you’re able to make these in time for Christmas or not, I do recommend them at some point. Grab a couple, snuggle up on the couch with some hot cocoa and watch the snow fall outside… cosy, huh?
20th of December eh? Yikes… where did the year ago? I shall keep the post short and sweet since I guess pretty much everyone is gearing up for Christmas already and if you’re anything like me you probably don’t have a whole lot of time on your hands right now!
Have a very merry Christmas to everyone who’s celebrating it, and a warm, safe new year. I’ll be taking a slightly longer pause than normal between posts while my family is here over the holiday period, but I’ll be back in 2014, raring to go with some new posts. Take care everyone and enjoy the recipe, and the video!
Yields 50
A Swedish Christmas favourite - a sugar coated, mildly-flavoured bread, perfect for eating with, or dunking in, a warming cup of coffee.
30Prep Time
10Cook Time
120Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 500ml Milk
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 2tbsps Anise Seeds
- 850g Plain Flour
- 12g Quick-activating Yeast
- 2tsps Salt
- 100g Caster Sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Start off by melting the butter in a large pan. Once melted, add in the milk, sugar, and the anise seeds.
- Heat the milk through stirring gently until quite warm, but not too hot.
- Mix the flour, salt, and yeast together in a large bowl and then pour in the milk mixture.
- Mix well to form a dough and then turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes and then place into a bowl.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise for about one hour.
- Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into two halves.
- Roll out one half to a thickness of about 1cm and cut the dough into rectangles of roughly 6cm x 3cm. Make two cuts of about 1.5cm into one of the long sides of the rectangle, spaced evenly apart, and then bend the uncut side backwards to spread out the "legs".
- Repeat until all the dough has been prepared in this fashion. Cover the cut dough and allow to rise for about 30 minutes.
- Heat a pan with the oil until it reaches a temperature of about 160 degrees Celsius. Carefully fry the risen dough 4 or 5 pieces at a time for a minute or two on each side until a rich golden brown.
- Remove and allow to drain on kitchen towel for a few minutes before rolling in sugar and enjoying.
Notes
"Anisgrisar" freeze very well. If you intend on freezing them do not cover them with sugar. Freeze them as soon as they have cooled after frying. When you decide to eat them, simply defrost, warm slightly and then coat with sugar.
Nutrition
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