Trdelnik is one delicious dessert you are sure to find on every corner of Prague.
It's a traditional Czech pastry dough, wrapped around a stick, rolled in cinnamon-walnut and sugar mixture and baked to a crispy perfection. Does it sound amazing? It sure is!
In this step-by-step Trdelnik recipe I'll tell you all my tips and tricks on how to make the best oven baked Czech Trdelnik. Let's get cooking!
Trdelnik
Believe it or not, this post or better to say this recipe was that close from never happening. Why? I'll tell you in a bit.
My mom was the one who suggested me making Trdelnik recipe for my blog. Since I haven't posted any Czech recipes yet, I liked that idea and was eager to make the recipe ASAP.
But, there was just one thing that kept me from doing it. In fact, it probably took me 4 months before I found a solution to a problem and made Trdelnik at home.
So, what is it?
Trdelnik has a cone shape. The dough is wrapped around a special cylinder stick called Trdlo and baked on the open fire.
Where do I find Trdlo stick?
You have few options here. First - you can find it on Amazon. There's a specifically designed chimney cake stick, like this one. It's a little pricey, but if you're going to use it a lot, it might be worths it.
There're also much affordable versions like these Cannoli molds. They can be used for variety of desserts and would be perfect for making Trdelnik as well.
But you know what?
I found an even cheaper alternative to Trdlo stick. It took me for 4 months to discover this solution, but if you're like me and trying to be frugal where possible, you should totally use my budget version of Trdlo. It totally works. All you need is old magazines and aluminum foil.
Want to see how it works?
Trdelnik Recipe
Before I'll show you a step-by-step detailed recipe how you can make Prague dessert Trdelnik at home, let me ask you something.
Have you ever been to Czech Republic? If not, then you definitely should. It is such a beautiful country, full of history and stunning architecture.
Why do I say this?
In my honest opinion, when people decide where to go on European vacation, Czech Republic is often overlooked.
Tell me I'm wrong, but when many of my American friends went to Europe, they chose more popular travel destinations like France, Spain or Italy. I can't blame them. Those countries are gorgeous.
But you know what?
If you're on a budget but still want to get the most out of your European trip, you should totally visit Czech Republic. You'll spend less than in Paris or Barcelona, but you'll receive as much satisfaction and joy from the trip as from other popular European countries.
I was lucky enough to visit Prague in my early 20s. Although we endured a long 20 hours bus ride to get there, I was absolutely amazed by the beauty of this small country.
Baroque buildings, famous Charle's Bridge, delicious food... No wonder, Prague has become a popular destination for shooting some well known Hollywood movies. Think Casino Royal, The Illusionist and Mission: Impossible.
Astonishing, isn’t it?
Now that I've told you a bit about beautiful Czech Republic, let's get down to business.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.
If you want to try something new, delicious and unusual this holiday season, try Czech Trdelnik.
Don't be intimidated, as I'm going to walk you through the whole process of making this traditional Czech treat.
Success is guaranteed.
Trdelnik Ingredients
To make this Czech pastry Trdelnik, you'll need pantry ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- milk
- active dry yeast
- butter
- eggs
- salt
- cinnamon
- walnuts
In addition, I always recommend using digital scale. It yields better precision than measuring cups. I like this digital scale.
How to make Trdelnik
1. Mix dry ingredients
In a large bowl, combine 480 grams (about 3 cups) of sifted all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon of yeast and 1 teaspoon of salt.
2. Mix liquid ingredients
In a medium bowl or large glass, whisk together 2 egg yolks, 150 ml of milk and 5 tablespoon of melted butter.
3. Combine the ingredients and let the dough rise
Combine dry and liquid ingredients and mix well. The dough will be quite dense.
Form the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place until it almost doubles in size.
Note: If the dough is too sticky, you can add a few more tablespoons of flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Make Trdlo sticks
Roll old magazine into a stick and secure it with cooking twine. Tightly cover each stick with aluminum foil and tuck edges inside of a magazine. You'll need about 5 sticks.
5. Prepare walnut-cinnamon crumb
Place walnuts into a tightly closed zip-lock bag and pound it with a rolling pin until walnuts are nicely chopped. Transfer the walnuts into a medium bowl and combine them with sugar and cinnamon.
In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Preheat the oven to 390 F.
6. Roll out and cut the dough
When the dough has increased in size, sprinkle working surface with 5 tablespoon of flour and roll the dough into a disk approximately 2-3 millimeters thick.
Using a small knife, cut the disk lengthwise into the ribbons of about 10-15 mm wide.
7. Arrange Trdelnik on a stick
Grease each Trdlo stick with olive oil. Tightly wrap strips of dough around Trdlo sticks making sure each strip slightly overlaps each other.
Each Trdlo stick should fit up to 3 Trdelniks with 1 inch distance between them.
Brush each Czech Trdelnik with the egg white wash and generously coat with a walnut-cinnamon crumb.
8. Bake Trdelnik
Place Trdlo sticks on a rimmed baking dish making sure pastry doesn't touch the bottom or sides of a dish.
Bake Trdelnik for 15-20 minutes until it's golden on each side. Remove Trdelnik from the oven and slowly slide it off the stick!
Enjoy with a drizzling of Nutella, jam or a scoop of ice-cream.
You might also like these unique European desserts
Recipe
Trdelnik
It's a traditional Czech pastry dough, wrapped around a stick, rolled in cinnamon-walnut and sugar crumb and baked to a crispy perfection.
Ingredients
I always recommend using digital scale. It yields better precision than measuring cups. I like this digital scale.
For the pastry
- 480 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 150 ml (⅞ cups) milk
- 5 tablespoon butter melted and slightly cooled
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoon flour for dusting the working surface
- olive oil for greasing Trdlo sticks
For walnut-cinnamon crumb
- 1 c walnuts
- 5 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Instructions
Mix dry ingredients
- In a large bowl, combine 480 grams (about 3 cups or 16.95 oz) of sifted all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Mix liquid ingredients
- In a medium bowl or large glass, whisk together 2 egg yolks, 150 ml (⅞ cups) of milk and 5 tablespoon of melted butter.
Combine the ingredients and let the dough rise
- Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. The dough will be quite dense.
- Form the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place until it almost doubles in size.* (Note 1)
Make Trdlo sticks
- Roll old magazine into a stick and secure it with cooking twine. Tightly cover each stick with aluminum foil and tuck edges inside of a magazine. You’ll need about 5 sticks.
Prepare walnut-cinnamon crumb and preheat the oven
- Place walnuts into a tightly closed zipper bag and pound it with a rolling pin until walnuts are nicely chopped. Transfer the walnuts into a medium bowl and mix them with sugar and cinnamon. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Preheat the oven to 390 F.
Roll out and cut the dough
- When the dough has increased in size, sprinkle working surface with 5 tablespoon of flour and roll the dough into a disk approximately 2-3 millimeters thick.Using a small knife, cut the disk lengthwise into the ribbons of about 10-15 mm wide.
Arrange Trdelnik on a stick
- Grease each Trdlo stick with olive oil. Tightly wrap strips of dough around Trdlo sticks making sure each strip slightly overlaps each other.
Each Trdlo stick should fit up to 3 Trdelniks with 1 inch distance between them. - Brush each Czech Trdelnik with the egg white wash and generously coat with a walnut-cinnamon crumb.
Bake Trdelnik
- Place Trdlo sticks on a rimmed baking dish making sure pastry doesn’t touch the bottom or sides of a dish. Bake Trdelnik for 15-20 minutes until it’s golden on each side. Remove Trdelnik from the oven and slowly slide it off the stick!
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you make this Prague Trdelnik, don't forget to snap a photo and post it on Instagram with a hashtag #lavenderandmacarons.
I'd love to connect with you on social media. Follow me on:
Isabella says
Hi Iryna, I went to Prague just last week and I fell in love with the Trdelnìk!!! Thanks for this recipe it looks really Awesome! Can’t wait to try it out next week
-Isabella
Iryna says
You're welcome Isabella! I hope you'll like this recipe:)
Isabella says
Thanks for the quick reply! Am about to try the recipe!!
Morgan says
Hi Iryna!
You mentioned two different types of flour. Can I just use all-purpose flour for the 480 grams + 5 tablespoons or does it have to be two different types of flour? I am confused as to why there are two different flour measurements. Also, what is the the conversion of 480 grams to cups of flour? Thank you for your help!!
Morgan
Iryna says
Hi Morgan! Sorry for the confusion. Recipe uses only one type of flour - all purpose-flour. 480 grams equals to approximately 3 сups of flour. If the dough is too sticky, you can a few tablespoon more.
Another 5 tablespoons are used for sprinkling the working surface with the flour. Hope this helps!
Morgan says
Great! Thank you for the quick response. We’re looking forward to trying this recipe this weekend!
David Quinn says
This recipe looks great Iryna! My family and I were in Prague a few years ago and discovered Trdelnik (fresh off the fire) and fell in love with this delicious treat, and had it many times. I can't wait to try this recipe. Thanks for posting this!
Iryna says
Thank you David! I hope you'll like this homemade version of Trdelnik. It's funny because I've never actually tried Trdelnik while on my trip to Prague, I've heard it can be quite fancy with a lot of filling options. My recipe is a simple version of Trdelnik but you can definitely top it with an ice-cream or drizzle with Nutella:)
Christina | Christina's Cucina says
Beautiful! I had a chimney cake in Germany and loved it! Have to try these soon!
Iryna says
Thank you Christina! Yea, Chimney Cakes are so popular across many European countries. I've actually never tried it while in Europe but was happy to learn about this recipe and make it at home.
Dvorah says
I believe when you wrote “disk approximately 2-3 millimiters With” you wanted to wrote 23 cm , is that correct? Great recipe , easy and perfect for coffee. Thank you
Iryna says
Hi Dvorah! Thank you! A disc should be 2-3 mm thick. The diameter of the disc would be approximately 45-55 cm. I hope this helps.
Dvorah says
Thank you. I was confused.
Iryna says
You're welcome!
Siddika says
can i make these without eggs? i have an egg allergy
Iryna says
Yes, but you'll need to replace them with something else. If you have flax seeds, combine 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds and 6 tablespoons of water. Leave it for 10 minutes and use it in a recipe as eggs.
Or you can use 1/2 cup of applesauce or 1/2 cup of mashed bananas in place of eggs.
Hope this helps!
Tez says
it is absolutely NOT typical Christimas pastry in Czechia, unfortunately it is not typical Czech food / sweet, this kind of pastry is known more less in whole Central and Easter Europe
Mike says
Hey Iryna, I went to Prague a couple years ago, and I couldn't get enough of those! I was going to use a wooden or metal stick over my BBQ, but I am all for trying an oven recipe like yours. My issue is that I am worried about putting magazines in the oven??? Even covered with foil. Aren't they catching fire?
Thanks!
Iryna says
Hi Mike!
No, they won't catch fire. I used this method based on the recommendations from several other web-sites. I've never heard of any issues. When you tuck the edges of aluminum foil inside the magazines, just make sure, that there's an opening across the whole stick. That will help with air circulation.
Mike says
Great. Thanks so much Iryna. I will definitely try!
Iryna says
You're welcome!
Lorinda - The Rowdy Baker says
It's so exciting to see something NEW. New to me, anyhow. I can't wait to try these.
Iryna says
Thank you for your comment Lorinda! I hope you will like this Trdelnik recipe!:)
Cheapskate Cook says
Oh my goodness, these look like they would be SO FUN to eat! Any kind of pastry is automatically one of my favorites. But this looks so fun. Pinning.
Iryna says
Thank you so much!
Calleigh Keibler says
Omg.. this looks awesome and yummy. It's good to see some unfamiliar treat which is delicious and not hard to tackle. Bookmarked this for future reference. Thanks for sharing.
Iryna says
Thank you Calleigh!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
I'd never heard of these until recently; we went to a food festival in the summer and there was a stand that made Trdelnik fresh. We got one and it was amazing!! I couldn't believe I'd never known about something so delicious! I'm saving your recipe as I'd like to make my own one day!
Iryna says
Thanks for your comment Annie! I hope you'll made Trdelnik one day:) It's delicious indeed.
Sarah says
I swear that I've seen people wrapping dough on cones on tv baking shows.. but I have no idea where they got them! I like your free solution better. This looks delicious!
Iryna says
Thanks Sarah! It's free and it works)))
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
What a fun recipe. I love your step by step and I'm glad you included it because I was so curious! These cinnamon pastries look soooo good!! I want to try this asap!
Iryna says
Thank you Elaine!
Mashka says
I like it!
Iryna says
Thank you:)