Hungarian Walnut Cookies Recipes

HUNGARIAN KIFFLES

Steps:

• Beat butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until pale yellow and creamy. Gradually add 2 cups flour to butter mixture until the dough is too thick for the mixer. Stir remaining 2 cups flour into the butter mixture by hand and knead until dough falls off hands easily. Roll dough into a ball, place in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Stir walnuts and sugar together in a bowl. Pour milk into walnut mixture and stir to form a paste.
• Turn dough onto a floured work surface and roll to desired thickness. Cut dough into 2-inch squares. Place about 1 teaspoon walnut filling in the center of each square. Roll the dough from 1 corner to the other corner around the walnut filling and transfer to a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until light brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

AUTHENTIC HUNGARIAN WALNUT ROLLS

Steps:

• Mix filling in a medium bowl using only ¼ cup of the boiled milk. The mixture should be thick.
• If the filling is not spreadable, use the rest of the milk. I used all of it. It will thicken as it sits.
• Note: You can make the filling ahead of time and freeze it until you are ready to use it. Just thaw at room temperature when you are ready to use.
• Sift flour and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Beat the cream cheese and butter together with a stand mixer or a hand mixer until completely incorporated and creamy (3-5 minutes).
• Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add in the flour. I used 5 additions and completely mixed in the flour each time. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and flatten each to ¾" thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until hard, at least 2 hours.
• Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Move the oven rack one setting higher than the center.
• Dust each side of the dough with flour. Generously coat a flat surface (countertop, marble board, etc.) with granulated sugar. Plop the dough on top and press gently to push some crystals into the dough. The sugar will keep your dough elevated off the rolling surface enough to keep it from sticking. Lightly coat the rolling pin with flour throughout the process, using as little as possible.
• With a pastry wheel or sharp knife, trim the dough into a square and then cut the square into 16 smaller squares. My dough never rolled out into a perfect circle so I would just cut as many 1 1/2 " squares a possible, saving the scraps for later.
• Place a dollop of filling in one corner of each square. I used ½ teaspoon.
• Starting in the corner with the filling, roll the dough around the filling from corner to corner, gently pressing down as you roll. Grab the roll on both sides and pinch as you bend the roll to create a crescent shape. Gently move it to a parchment covered baking sheet, placing the Rolls no closer than 1" apart.
• Repeat with all remaining squares.
• Sprinkle the middles of the Rolls with just a touch of granulated sugar.
• Bake 12-14 minutes or until the bottom edges are a golden and you can smell them. They should puff up slightly in the middle. With experience you can see when the dough is cooked. Let cool slightly on the pan on a wire rack and then move them gently to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Repeat with all remaining dough. Refrigerate and re-roll your scraps. Amazing.
• For a more traditional cookie, you can omit the granulated sugar and dust the final, cooled cookie with powdered sugar. I will warn you that it won't be as divine.

HUNGARIAN KIFLI COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and butter, cutting together with either two knives or a pastry cutter.
• In a separate mixing bowl, combine sour cream, yeast, and sugar. Mix until well combined and let sit while yeast dissolves.
• Add yeast mixture into the flour mixture along with the vanilla and egg yolks. Mix dough together by hand until it is well combined. Split dough in half and wrap up in either plastic wrap or wax paper. Refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight.
• Right before dough comes out of refrigerator, combine ingredients for filling. Set aside.
• On a large cutting board, sprinkle 1/3 cup flour and 1/3 cup sugar. Roll out dough into a thin circle before cutting into 8 triangles.
• Place 1 tsp of filling on each triangle and roll up starting on the wider end. Place on a lined cookie sheet with the open end down and bend the cookie a bit so it looks like a crescent. Repeat with process for all of the triangles from both things of dough.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve.

HUNGARIAN WALNUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until blended. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Divide dough into 3 portions. Shape each into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 375°. For filling, in a small bowl, beat egg whites and vanilla on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on medium after each addition until well blended. Stir in walnuts., Generously coat a work surface with confectioners' sugar. Roll 1 portion of dough into a 12-in. square about 1/8 in. thick, sprinkling with additional confectioners' sugar as necessary to coat well. Cut into sixteen 3-in. squares., Shape 2 teaspoons filling into a small log about 2 in. long. Place diagonally onto a square. Overlap opposite corners of dough over filling; pinch tightly to seal. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough and filling., Bake until bottoms are golden brown, 9-11 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar., To Make Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days in advance. Wrap and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. , Freeze option: Freeze cookies in freezer containers. To use, thaw before serving. If desired, dust with additional confectioners' sugar.

HUNGARIAN NUT ROLL COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix flour, butter, and cream cheese together.
• Roll out like noodles very, very thin and cut into rectangles about 2" by 3" (or whatever size you prefer)
• Mix the ground nuts and sugar with enough milk to make a paste-like dough
• Spread the filling on each piece and roll up like a jelly roll, which will be like a pencil shape after it is rolled
• Place on a slightly greased cookie sheet
• Bake at 425 degrees for about 12 - 15 minutes

HUNGARIAN NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix margarine and cottage cheese.
• Add flour until well-mixed and smooth dough forms.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least a couple of hours.
• (Shape into walnut-sized balls before or after chilling).
• Roll each ball on floured board to the size of a small saucer.
• (You can mix some sugar with the flour for rolling).
• Make filling by mixing sugar and nuts in blender or food processor till finely chopped.
• Place TSP.
• of filling in center of circles.
• Fold circles in half and seal.
• Form into crescents.
• Sprinkle with sugar and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
• ***NOTE:You may need to make more filling.
• Also, you may adjust the size of the dough circles too for different sized cookies.
• If you do this, you may need to adjust baking time too!

HUNGARIAN NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In bowl of a food processor, process nuts until coarsely ground. Set aside.
• Place egg whites in bowl of an electric mixer with a pinch of salt. Beat until just beginning to stiffen. Add brown sugar and beat until stiff peaks form and the mixture is glossy. Carefully fold in nuts with a flexible rubber spatula.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto parchment. Bake 20 minutes, or until cookies are dark beige and just set.
• Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet. Remove with spatula, and store in a tightly covered tin.