Hungarian Cookies Food

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.

MYRNA'S HUNGARIAN PECAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and vanilla. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar, then slowly add the flour and pecans and mix just until combined. Use your hands to roll the dough into balls about 3/4-inch in diameter, and arrange them on the baking sheets. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Meanwhile, spread the remaining confectioners' sugar out on a plate. When the cookies are done, remove from the oven, let cool 3 to 5 minutes, and then roll each cookie in the sugar until coated, letting each rest in the sugar for a minute to absorb it. Let cool completely on wire racks, then store in airtight containers.

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.

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 COOKIE TREASURES

Steps:

• 1. With using a stand mixer, add the cream cheese, softened butter, and the 1 cup of granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed until well blended.
• 2. Add the flour one cup at a time, mixing until evenly incorporated. Remove dough from mixer and press it into a ball. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• 3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• 4. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on a smooth countertop or pastry board and roll dough out to approx 1/4 inch thick sheets. Cut the dough into 2-inch circles. Re-roll excess dough as needed.
• 5. Place 1 teaspoonful of jam or preserves in the center of circle.
• 6. Wet the cookie edges around the jam or preserves with your finger. Then place a second circle over the jam or preserves and firmly press down around the edges to encompass the jam or preserves. Take a fork and go all around the edge to seal jam or preserves in tightly (like you would for a pie crust). Repeat this process until you have used up all the dough.
• 7. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown.
• 8. Remove from oven and place onto cookie rack.
• 9. If desired, dust cookies with powdered sugar.
• 10. These cookies keep well in the freezer for long-term storage. However, they should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator when completely cooled.
• 11. Enjoy! :-)

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 KIFFLES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until very smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing just until combined. The dough will be quite moist, but not sticky.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and flatten into a square approximately 1/2-inch thick. Cut into 4 equal pieces and wrap each separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, a minimum of 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove one portion of the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a liberally floured surface.
• Dust the top of the dough with flour and cover with a sheet of wax or parchment paper. Working from the center toward the corners, roll the dough out to a 1/8-inch-thick square. It should measure about 9 inches.
• For best results, see our recipe notes below to learn how to roll your dough into a perfect square.
• Using a pastry wheel or a sharp knife, cut your dough both lengthwise and crosswise into small squares.
• Your total yield will depend on how large you make them. We recommend 1-1/2-inches which will give you 36 kiffles per square of dough or about 12 dozen total.
• The best way to keep the size even is to use a ruler and mark all 4 sides of the dough square at intervals with the tip of a knife. You can use the handle of a spatula to guide you as you cut to keep your lines straight as well (similar to drawing straight lines on a sheet of paper).
• Working as quickly as possible, place a small mound of filling (about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon) in the center of each square. If the filling flavor you're using is relatively smooth you can spoon it into a small freezer bag, snip off a tiny bottom corner and squeeze the filling onto the squares. This works particularly well with the poppy and almond flavors.
• Lift two opposite corners of the dough over the filling and gently pinch them together. Fold that "point" over to one side, moisten the tip of your finger with a bit of water and smooth it down gently on one side of the kiffle. This prevent the kiffles from popping open as they bake.
• Important Note: The various filling flavors spread a bit differently during baking so you may want to fill a few "test" kiffles and bake them to gauge the right amount of filling for each type.
• Arrange the kiffles 1 inch apart on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake until barely golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then carefully transfer the kiffles to cooling racks.
• Repeat the process with the remaining 3 portions of dough, using different filling flavors if desired.
• Store kiffles between layers of waxed paper in a tightly closed container and refrigerate. Bring them to room temperature (30 minutes out of the fridge), arrange on a plate and dust lightly with powdered sugar just before serving. It's not advisable to top them with powdered sugar before storing.
• Makes 8 to 12 dozen

HUNGARIAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325.
• Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x9x2 cake pan and set aside.
• Cream the butter, sugar, and yolks.
• Fold in flour and walnuts.
• Divide the batter in half. Do not over handle the dough. One half will serve as the top layer and the other as the bottom.
• Take a piece of batter and gently flatten it using your fingers. You will see that the batter tends to make its own sections. Work with those. Place this section on the bottom of the cake pan and continue until you have covered the bottom of the cake pan in a patchwork manner. Do not worry about the dough not looking smooth in the pan, you will fix that in a minute.
• If you have leftover dough from the half, fill in holes and build up areas that may be thinner than others.
• Take the back of a spoon and gently smooth the edges of the dough together so no holes are apparent.
• Spread a thin layer of jam over the dough. Do not make the layer thick, you are not making PB and J here.
• Use the final half of batter to make the top layer using the same technique as above.
• Place in the oven at 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes. At around 25 minutes start peaking in the oven, the dough should be a nice golden brown color when it is finished.
• Let cookies cool completely before cutting into small squares.

HUNGARIAN COOKIES FOR BEGINNERS

Steps:

• Sift together dry ingredients.
• Cut in margarine as for pie crust.
• Add eggs, vanilla and milk, just enough to hold dough together. Do not work this dough, just blend ingredients.
• Roll out and cut into squares 3x3 inch, not too thin.
• Fill with any desired filling.
• Brush top with beaten egg.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown.

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.