Hungarian Honey Cookies Food

HUNGARIAN HONEY CAKES (MéZESKALáCS)

Steps:

• DAY BEFORE BAKING:.
• Sift together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda.
• Melt together the butter and the honey, pour over the flour combination and stir to mix.
• Add 1 egg and knead together. The dough should be soft (you can add a bit of lukewarm water if necessary), since it will harden a bit during its resting period.
• Cover the dough in a bowl and let it rest at least one day at room temperature.
• BAKING DAY:.
• Rolling out the dough is easiest between two pieces of waxed paper.
• Cut desired shapes out of the dough (of about 3/8 inches thickness on average).
• Before baking, brush with the yolk of an egg to which a few drops of red food coloring have been added. If you are decorating with seeds, brush dough with egg white to "paste" seeds on top of dough before baking.
• (Alternately, let the honey cakes rest a few days and then decorate with colored sugar icings.).
• Place cut out pieces of dough on a cold, greased cookie sheet, bake at 350 degrees F. (or less) for about 6-8 minutes. Thicker pieces may need a longer time (ovens temperatures also vary).
• DECORATION:.
• If icing cookies, let the honey cakes rest a few days and then decorate with colored sugar icings.
• MAKE VARIOUS COLORED SUGAR ICINGS:.
• Colored sugar icing, one version: To one egg white, add as much sifted powdered sugar as needed to make fairly stiff paste. Add desired food colorings, separated by color. (Do not use a mixer!)
• Spoon this mixture into a small nylon baggie, cut a tiny hole in one corner, roll up and use like a pencil to draw and color.

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 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 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 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 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.