Bakery Classic · Twisted Fried Dough

Kleinur

Photo: Icelandknight / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Getting the classic diamond twist right takes one clean cut down the middle of the dough and pulling one corner back through the slit — no rolling-pin origami required.

A firm, only lightly sweet dough scented with cardamom is rolled flat, cut into diamonds, slit down the center, and twisted by pulling one corner through the cut before it's dropped into hot fat and fried until deep golden. Bakeries and gas-station counters sell them plain and still warm, alongside coffee.

Why it's made this way: Cardamom arrived in Iceland through Danish colonial-era trade and stuck around in baking long after the political ties loosened, which is why this everyday fried dough tastes distinctly spiced rather than plain like a doughnut.

Roughly what's in it

210kcal

4gprotein

26gcarbs

10gfat

Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.

Read it in context →

More from Iceland

🌭 Pylsur (Icelandic Hot Dog)

Harðfiskur (Wind-Dried Fish) 🦞 Humarsúpa (Icelandic Lobster Soup)

Skyr

Plokkfiskur 🍦 Ísbíltúr (Ice Cream Drive)

Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.