Hungarian Kifli I Food

HUNGARIAN KIFLI II

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Stir in the egg yolks and vanilla. Stir together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture a little at a time until it is fully incorporated. Divide dough into 5 parts, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate overnight.
• in a medium bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks, add sugar a little at a time while continuing to beat to stiff peaks. Fold in ground walnuts, and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch squares, place 1/2 teaspoon of filling in the center of each square and roll up from corner to corner. Place on cookie sheets and refrigerate until hardened.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Roll in confectioners' sugar when cool.

GRAM'S HUNGARIAN KIFFLE

Steps:

• 1. 1) Cream butter and cream cheese till fluffy; gradually blending in sugar.
• 2. 2) Stir together flour and salt, stir into a creamed mixture. OR...like me, you could just use a food processor for this step to form the dough.
• 3. 3) Divide in half and roll with your hands to form a "Ball" and Cover; chilling dough several hours or overnight. Be advised; the less you handle the dough the more delicate and flakier it will be when it's baked.
• 4. 4) On lightly floured surface, roll each portion into rectangles, THEN cut them down into about 2 1/2-inch squares. (There WILL be "odd triangle" sizes left. You'll USE them too! - Kiffles are a ROLLED, 'cresent-shape".)
• 5. 5) Place a dollop (about one rounded teaspoon) of filling in the center of each square.
• 6. 6) Lift up two diagonal corners of the dough to center, pinching together to seal into crescents.
• 7. 7) Preheat oven to 375°.
• 8. 8) Place dough on ungreased cookie sheet. (I'd STILL spray them with BUTTER FLAVORED PAM! - Better 'safe' than STUCK!) Bake till firm until golden brown (about 12-15 minutes).
• 9. 9) Cool on wire racks. Sift powdered sugar over slightly warm pastries.
• 10. 10) Store loosely covered in a cool dry place.

HUNGARIAN KIFLI I

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat together butter or margarine and cottage cheese til light and fluffy. Add flour until dough forms a ball.
• Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and grease cookie sheets.
• To Make Filling: Combine egg whites, nuts, water, and ground cinammon. Mix well and set aside.
• On a floured surface roll 1 portion of dough into a 10 inch circle. Spread circle with 1/3 of the filling to within approximately 1/2 inch of the edge.
• Cut circle into 24 pie-shaped wedges. Beginning at outer edge roll up each wedge tightly. Place point side down on cookie sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden (be sure to watch carefully as these cookies burn easily).
• Remove to rack to cool. Repeat process with each remaining portion of dough and filling.

MáKOS KIFLI (HUNGARIAN POPPY SEED CRESCENTS) KIPFLI / KIP

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and egg yolks; add sour cream and extract.
• Mix in flour; mix until smooth.
• Gather dough into a ball.
• Turn out onto lightly floured surface.
• With palms of hands, shape dough into a smooth roll.
• Slice dough into 48 pieces (if dough is too soft and sticky to handle, chill for a short time).
• Roll each piece into a ball (about the size of a walnut).
• Can be refrigerated overnight at this point.
• In a heavy 1 1/2 qt saucepan, combine all filling ingredients and mix together.
• Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is slightly thickened (5 minutes).
• Remove from heat and cool.
• Filling should be smooth and easy to spread, if on standing it thickens too much, stir in a little milk.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Lightly sprinkle work surface with flour or powdered sugar.
• Roll one dough ball out at a time into a circle 1/16-inch thick.
• Place 1-2 teaspoons of filling in the middle of each circle.
• Gently lifting nearest edge, roll over to cover filling (continuing to roll so that the dough overlaps on the bottom); pinch the ends slightly around the filling and shape into a crescent by curving the ends in slightly.
• Place crescent onto lightly greased cookie sheet so that the overlapped side remains on the bottom.
• In this way, make crescents from each of the remaining dough balls, sprinkling the work surface lightly between each cookie.
• Bake until lightly browned 10-15 minutes; remove to cooling racks.
• When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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 KIFLI (CHRISTMAS COOKIES) WITH DATES

Steps:

• For the dough: mix butter, cream cheese and flour in food processor. Split into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• For the filling: Mix all ingredients in food processor, let stand at room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from refrigerator, roll out on floured cutting board, cut into about 2 inch squares. Put about one teaspoon filling onto each square. Roll diagonally, then crimp in the middle to make a crescent. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with powdered sugar as soon as removed from oven.
• All of the recipes I searched agreed that letting the dough rest overnight is key to getting it nice and flaky.
• Enjoy!

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.