Welcome to Bendtsen's Bakery

Laurits Bendt Bendtsen, my grandfather was born in Odence, Denmark in 1905 where he learned his trade and decided to come to America to open his own bakery. He first arrived at a farm in Iowa as part of a sponsorship to immigrate to the U.S.  In a short time, Laurits was able to relocate and decided to move to Racine, WI. 

He was aware of the great number of Danish descendents in the community. Following his dream, he purchased a business corner in West Racine in 1934 and established Bendtsen’s Bakery. Our current location has remained the only location for Bendtsen’s Bakery. 

- Ben Bendtsen

What is Kringle?

Kringle got its name from the pretzel-shape of the pastry, made with the original flavors of raisin and almond paste. The kringles were also raised like a donut in the steam box. Because of the high demand for the flakey, delectable pastry, they shortened the process of raising them and shaped them in the oval shape we have now.

People started encouraging other flavors, so the fun began experimenting with all different fillings for kringle including pecan, chocolate, cream cheese, custard, date, and of course all your regular flavors: apple, cherry, and blueberry to name a few. But of all the spectacular flavors, pecan is by far the most asked for flavor. But of course, it’s not just pecan, its pecans with a mouth-watering butterscotch base which sometimes oozes out and makes it gooey.

Because Bendtsen's Bakery hand rolls the dough the same as we have since 1934, our kringle is unique and authentic to the pastry, except for the oval shape we make them in now. My Danish grandfather, father, myself and now my son have taken pride in our work in producing the best kringle that you can purchase. We only use the highest quality ingredients and do not add any preservatives to create the ultimate Danish pastry called the kringle.