Khrustyky - Ukrainian Fried Cookies

Back in the day (2006) when I was producing Solovei Magazine, I had a recipe for these wonderful fried cookies, that are also called "ears" or "sweet nothings". I used to make them by the 100s for our annual charity dinner - it was a veritable assembly line. For old time's sake, posterity, and because I was specifically asked about this recipe, I decided to post the page from the magazine as well as the recipe from the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League Ukrainian Traditional and Modern Cuisine.
I fry mine in an electric frypan.  It was a wedding gift almost 35 years ago and works very well. My sister has a deep fryer. I wonder if she's ever used it for khrusyky? Maybe she'll comment.
Surprisingly easy to make - a few diagrams precede the instructions (apologies for the crudeness - I've never been accused of being an artist) and some photos follow.

Here's Stella's take on khrustyky:

Ingredients

2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp brandy or rum
1 1/4 cups sifted flour.

Beat the eggs until very light.  Beat in sugar, salt, cream, vanilla and brandy or rum. 
Stir in the flour. Knead soft dough, cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
On a floured board, roll dough very thing, about 1/8 inch thick.
Cut in long strips about 1 1/4 inch wide. Then cut the strips into 3-3 1/2 inches long.  At the middle of each piece, cut lengthwise a 1/2 inch slit and fold back and through.
Deep fry in oil, turning once until golden brown.
Drain on absorbent paper.  Dust with icing sugar.

Forming khrusytky:

To make the cookies, roll out the dough, then using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut long diagonal strips (as shown) to create diamond shapes.






For individual cookies, make a slit in the diamond shape as shown (left). Carefully bring the top tip through the slit and pull it up the back to form the shape shown in the picture below. 

"how to" pictures follow the recipe.

cut strips

cut small slit with sharp knife

Open the slit a bit, then pull through the tip

Gently. . . pull the tip through

It may take a few tries to get the perfect shape

Get them all ready to deep-fry

Start by frying just a few, until you get the hang of it. Use tongs to tip them over in the oil

Line some cookie sheets or large containers with paper towels to absorb some of the oil when you remove them rom the pan.

I don't think I've ever made less than 300. These are some of them ready to be sprinkled with icing sugar.

You can sprinkle them with icing sugar out of a sieve. But when I am making hundreds . . .

I lay them in small batches on a clean tablecloth and sprinkle with icing sugar. Then gently  (with a friend, grab the four ends of the tablecloth and toss. Gently.