Let's make Bozi milosti, a crispy sweet treat from the old days of Bohemian grannies and aunties. Milosti cookies are most commonly associated with Czech Easter, but feel free to make them any time of year. Let's dive into the recipe!
This recipe was first published in September 2021, and it was replaced by a new one in February 2023. The original PDF version of the recipe can be found HERE.
➜ What are Bozi milosti?
Bozi milosti are cookies made of thinly rolled non-yeast dough with egg yolks, flour and cream as the main ingredients. They are usually cut in a diamond shape with a few slits in the middle. Then they are briefly fried in oil and dusted with powdered sugar while still warm.
The result is a crispy, flaky pastry that puffs up when fried and blisters on the surface. A real treat, as light as a feather!
Except for diamonds with multiple slits, cut only one slit in the center of each diamond. Push one corner through the slit to make the cookies look fancier. This pretty shape is called a bow tie or a knot.
➜ Pronunciation
I recorded a short audio clip with the pronunciation of the Czech word "boží milosti." I am a native speaker, so you will hear the authentic Czech language!
➜ What are the English names for Bozi milosti?
There are several, and each family may call them differently. Here are some of the names: God's Favor, God's Grace, Listy (a Czech word for leaves), celestial crust or crullers.
In the USA, they are also known by the more general name of Angel Wings. The cookies are very popular in Poland, where they are called Chruściki or Faworki.
The Slovaks, our Czech neighbors on the eastern border, call them Čeregy, Fánky, or Fašianky. So many beautiful names for this sweet delicacy!
➜ Ingredients
To make Czech Bozi milosti, you will need:
- Egg yolks; carefully separate the egg yolks from the whites. Save the egg whites and use them in another recipe.
- Heavy cream; with a fat content between 35-40 percent
- White wine; or other spirits like vodka or rum. Alcohol does not add any extra flavor, but it prevents the unnecessary absorption of fat into the pastry when frying. In this recipe, I used Slivovitz, famous Czech plum brandy.
- Granulated sugar
- Oil; for deep frying. The best oil for frying is Canola or sunflower oil, which have a neutral taste. Olive oil is not suitable for this recipe. If you want the most authenticity, then know that Bohemian grandmas used to fry Milosti in pork lard!
- Powdered sugar; for coating Milosti cookies
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
Note on recipe: There are more recipes for Bozi milosti available. Some of them use butter, sour cream, or whole eggs. This recipe is based on egg yolks and heavy cream, which deliver incredibly flaky and crispy cookies.
Equipment: Prepare a wide frying pan with a higher rim. I used a cast-iron skillet with a diameter of 12 inches (28 cm).
➜ How to make Bozi milosti
STEP 1: Sift the flour into a bowl and add the egg yolks, heavy cream, alcohol, and sugar. Mix with a fork or wooden spoon, then turn the mixture onto a work surface and work by hand into a stiffer dough. If too sticky, dust with a tablespoon or two of flour and work in.
STEP 2: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest on the kitchen counter for about half an hour.
STEP 3: Divide the dough in half. Set one of them aside and wrap it again to prevent from drying out. Roll out the other half of the dough thinly, turning it over as you roll it out. The dough is quite elastic and has a tendency to shrink. Continue rolling it out until it's real thin.
STEP 4: Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut strips of dough about 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Then cut the strips diagonally to create diamond-like shapes. Make one or more slits in the middle of each shape. If you only make one slit, you can pull the tip of the diamond through it to create a nice, twisted shape.
Carefully set the prepared shapes aside and process the other half of dough in the same way.
STEP 5: Heat about two inches (5 cm) of frying oil in a rimmed pan over medium-high heat. Carefully put the Milosti into the heated oil. They will immediately begin to puff up and blister on their surface. Fry until their surfaces start to turn golden. Be careful, it takes a very short time—within a minute, they are done!
Scoop out the Milosti with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess fat. Continue until you have fried all the prepared pieces.
STEP 6: Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. While the cookies are still warm, completely cover them on all sides. If you have a sweet tooth, sprinkle with more sugar when serving.
➜ Serving
Bozi milosti are prepared on the same day that they are consumed. They lose their crispness and become tougher the next day.
Serve as a sweet treat with coffee or tea when expecting guests or at a family gathering.
➜ When are Milosti made?
In the Czech Republic, Bozi milosti cookies are prepared during the Carnival time (masopust or fašank). This festive season full of exuberant fun and good food begins shortly after Christmas, exactly on the Feast of the Three Kings, and continues until Ash Wednesday. Then the Carnival is replaced by a long fast that lasts until Easter.
An even more usual time for the making of Bozi milosti is Czech Easter itself when these little pastries were prepared in large quantities and given as a treat to the little carolers
➜ Tips and notes
- In the case of this recipe, it is a Czech pastry that is almost forgotten nowadays and is mostly made at regional festivals only. Too bad because this is a real treat! The last time I made Milosti, it was for a family gathering at my mother's house, and all of the cookies vanished in an instant.
- If you've ever made egg noodle dough for a soup, then be advised that God's grace dough resembles it in texture - but it's made with different ingredients.
More sweet recipes:
- Buttermilk sheet cake – with chocolate topping
- Apple compote – a Czech fall dessert
- Easy kolacky cookies – made with cream cheese butter
- Trdelnik – chimney cake
Tried this recipe?
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Czech Bozi Milosti (Listy)
Ingredients
- 5 egg yolks
- 5 Tablespoons heavy cream fat content 35-40 percentage
- 2 Tablespoons spirit or white wine
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- frying oil Canola or sunflower oil
- 1 cup powdered sugar for coating the fried cookies
Instructions
- Sift the flour into a bowl and add the egg yolks, heavy cream, alcohol, and sugar. Mix with a fork or wooden spoon, then turn the mixture onto a work surface and work by hand into a stiffer dough. If too sticky, dust with a tablespoon or two of flour and work in.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest on the kitchen counter for about half an hour.
- Divide the dough in half. Set one of them aside and wrap it again to prevent from drying out. Roll out the other half of the dough thinly, turning it over as you roll it out. The dough is quite elastic and has a tendency to shrink. Continue rolling it out until it's real thin.
- Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut strips of dough about 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Then cut the strips diagonally to create diamond-like shapes. Make one or more slits in the middle of each shape. If you only make one slit, you can pull the tip of the diamond through it to create a nice, twisted shape.
- Carefully set the prepared shapes aside and process the other half of dough in the same way.
- Heat about two inches (5 cm) of frying oil in a rimmed pan over medium-high heat. Carefully put the Milosti into the heated oil. They will immediately begin to puff up and blister on their surface. Fry until their surfaces start to turn golden. Be careful, it takes a very short time—within a minute, they are done!
- Scoop out the Milosti with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess fat. Continue until you have fried all the prepared pieces.
- Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. While the cookies are still warm, completely cover them on all sides. If you have a sweet tooth, sprinkle with more sugar when serving.
Notes
- Makes about one full large bowl of Bozi milosti cookies (for 6-8 people).
- SERVING: Bozi milosti are prepared on the same day that they are consumed. They lose their crispness and become tougher the next day. Serve as a sweet treat with coffee or tea when expecting guests or at a family gathering.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
Anonymous
Hi - just wondering what type of oil you use and what temperature it needs to be?
Petra Kupská
Thank you for your question; it helps me better understand what information I need to add to the recipe! I use sunflower or canola oil for frying. These are the most common in Czech cuisine. But not olive oil; it is too aromatic for this sweet recipe. As for the specific temperature of the oil, I'm afraid I can't help with that, as I don't have a thermometer to measure the temperature. I usually heat the oil on the stove, which I turn on to 2/3 of its power.
Jen Kandel
I made these with my family for Easter and they are fantastic! I love the hint of lemon.
Petra Kupská
Thank you very much for your nice feedback 🙂 We love milosti too, they appear on our festive table every Easter!
S. Marie
I am going to make these for Easter. My 96 year old grandma was raised by her Czech immigrant grandparents. She described how her bubbie would make a treat like this for special occasions. She would fill a blue roaster with them.
Petra Kupská
I firmly believe your grandmother will enjoy the milosti according to this recipe! Let me know how she liked it 🙂
Aimee
My Babi always used rum - one for the cookies and one for her. 😉 But, before my grandmother died, my mom neglected to get two recipes. And we have been missing them since. This was one - thank you!! The other we have never found were the Blueberry Dumplings. That was what we called them, but they were very different from the Bread Dumplings (we have that recipe) and were served with Farmer's Cheese. any idea what that recipe might be?