And now for something completely different as we head into this last week before Christmas. I thought I’d share with you two of my favorite Christmas Cookie recipe’s since this is my weekend to trash the kitchen. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not You Will Love these cookies!

The first one is a Christmas Cookie Recipe   handed down to my full blooded Hungarian Grandmother from her mother and passed on to me. I was fortunate that my Grandparents lived with us and as I was growing up I learned how to make many delicious family recipe’s at my grandmother’s side.

The recipe is a Walnut filled pastry type cookie called Kiefleys. We have a local bakery near us here in Eastern Pennsylvania that sells a similar cookie they call Kiffles but they do not hold a candle to my grandmother’s Kiefley Cookie recipe.

Kiefleys:

Ingredients:

• 8 Eggs (Separated – Yolks for the Dough, Whites for the Filling)
• 1LB Butter (Softened – For the dough)
• 8 Tablespoons Sugar (filling)
• 2 yeast cakes or 2 packets of activated dry yeast
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of hot but not boiling water
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3Tablespoons light cream to moisten
• Pinch Salt
• 4 Cups Flour
• 2 LBS Walnuts Ground Fine
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

Start by Making the dough. First separate 8 eggs. Egg whites in a medium glass mixing bowl and 8 egg yolks into a large bowl. Be careful not to break the yolks when separating or the whites will be ruined. set aside bowl with the egg whites.

To the bowl with the egg yolks add 1 lb of softened butter, a pinch of salt, mix together the 2 yeast cakes or 2 yeast packets with the warm water until yeast is melted in the water and add to the bowl with the butter and eggs. Beat together and gradually add 4 cups of flour. You can do this with a mixer with dough hooks or like my grandmother did, with a wooden spoon. Add light cream to moisten the dough a bit if it is too dry to hold together. Refrigerate overnight.

Make the filling the day you will be rolling out the dough.

The Kiefley filling : mix together Sugar, Cinnamon, vanilla and the ground walnuts. Then take your bowl with the egg whites and beat at high speed about 4 to 5 minutes until it forms stiff peaks. Then fold into the walnut mixture.

Now get out your dough. Flour a wooden or plastic board. Make a ball about the size o a softball and roll out very thin. Take a sharp paring knife and cut dough into triangles or squares (Your Preference) about 2 and a half inches long. add about a teaspoon of filling and roll up. you can moisten the tip with a bit of the light cream to seal it. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 to 8 minuter or until Golden brown. remove from oven. Cool slightly and then roll in Confectioners sugar! The image above shows them sprinkled in powdered sugar. My family dredges them in the sugar. Hey if your gonna do it why not go all out!

These are a lot of work but I get my 2 sons to help me and it goes fast and has made for a nice family tradition that they look forward to every year and the cookies are to die for!

Hope you enjoyed this post. I’ll add another of my Christmas cookie fattening favorites tomorrow. If you liked this post please use the like and share button below and post your comment.

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Timothy Langen
484-241-6497
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