Preparing these cookies requires a bit of a time investment, but they are such a special treat we know you’ll find them well worth the effort.
Hungarian Kiffles (Kiflis) Are A Holiday Tradition
Being of Hungarian descent, kiffles (also spelled kifli) have always been on hand at our family gatherings during the holidays. They take some work to prepare, but one bite will prove they’re well worth the effort.
Kiffles are delicate Hungarian cookies made with cream cheese dough and filled with various flavors of pastry filling. They make a beautiful contribution to any holiday cookie platter.
About Kiffle (Kifli) Fillings
It is very important that you use fillings that are made specifically for pastry in your kiffles. Pie filling will be too loose and jams and preserves can produce unpredictable results.
We’ve always used Solo Brand Cake & Pastry Filling and have never been disappointed. Solo makes a variety of flavors in 12-ounce cans. Pictured here are poppy seed, cherry, almond, and apricot.
Prune (lekvar in Hungarian), walnut, and poppy seed are the most traditional Hungarian choices and if you read through the comments, you’ll see that a few of our readers have included instructions for making these two fillings from scratch.
Pro Tip: How to Make All Your Kiffles the Same Size
Making sure your kiffles are uniform in size is not only about a beautiful presentation, it’s about even baking. The trick is to roll the dough into a perfect 9-inch square. Here’s how to do it:
- Cut a sheet of parchment paper 15 inches wide by 18 inches long. Fold 4-1/2 inches of each short side toward the middle. Make sharp creases and unfold.
- Fold 3 inches of each long side toward the center. Make sharp creases there as well and you should have a well-defined 9-inch square in the center of your parchment paper.
- With the flaps facing up, dust the parchment liberally with flour and place a portion of dough in the center of the square.
- Dust the top of the dough with flour as well, then fold the parchment along your creases to make an “envelope” around your dough.
- Turn it over (flap sides down) and place it on your rolling surface.
- Roll the dough from the center toward the corners as directed above.
- Remove the dough carefully to avoid tearing.
Once you have the dough rolled into a perfect square, you can easily mark off even intervals of 1-1/2-inches (6 per side) with the tip of a knife. Use your pastry wheel to make the cuts and you will get 36 kiffles (kiflis) per square.
Hungarian Kiffles
Ingredients
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (1/2 lb) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 to 2-1/2 cups cake and pastry filling, about two 12-ounce cans
Instructions
Prepare the Dough:
- 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.
Roll and Cut the Dough:
- 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).
Fill and Seal the Kiffles:
- 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.
Bake the Kiffles:
- 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.
How to Store Kiffles:
- 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
Notes
How To Roll Your Dough Into a Perfect 9-Inch Square:
- Cut a sheet of parchment paper 15 inches wide by 18 inches long. Fold 4-1/2 inches of each short side toward the middle. Make sharp creases and unfold.
- Fold 3 inches of each long side toward the center. Make sharp creases there as well and you should have a well-defined 9-inch square in the center of your parchment paper.
- With the flaps facing up, dust the parchment liberally with flour and place a portion of dough in the center of the square. Dust the top of the dough with flour as well, then fold the parchment along your creases to make an "envelope" around your dough.
- Place it on your rolling surface, flap sides down and roll the dough from the center toward the corners as directed above. Remove the dough carefully to avoid tearing.
I grew up with these cookies and we called them “hungarian cookies” or “hunkie cookies”.
My mom used to make these on Christmas Eve day fresh and always made her own apricot jam to use.
We have kept the tradition for my family also. My husband insists on these cookies each year!
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My cookies will not stay closed no matter what I do. Pinch, fold over, etc, etc.
Any suggestions? They look like little pies instead of cookies.
Hi Laura –
You’re not alone – this happens on occasion to just about everybody who makes these cookies and I believe there can be a variety of causes. Try dipping your fingers in a little milk just before you pinch the corners together – it may help. Hopefully they’ll still be delicious!
Spread a little egg white on the very edges of the little squares, after adding the filling. It helps to make the dough stick together.
maybe your dough is too thick.. it should be rolled fairly thin…i spread the filling all over the little square and roll it up starting at one corner like a cigar.. then I roll it in granulated sugar. makes it have a crunchy topping on it.. don’t need to use powdered sugar. any more problems just ask… my grandmother taught me how to make these… and she was the best….
Jen,
I have been making kiffles since I was a young girl and walnut kiffles are one of my favorites! Off hand, all you have to do is beat egg whites, sugar and vanilla then fold in the ground walnuts. We would also make walnut roll using the same dough and filling. Hope this helps.
Jess if would be willing to share your recipe I would be thrilled. My mother always made the one with nut filling when I was a child. She has since passed and none of us have her recipe 🙁
Jess how many eggs, sugar and vanilla do you add. I’ve lost my recipe for the walnut mixture.
My mom used to make these with a nut filling made of finely chopped pecans, a bit of sugar and just enough cream to hold the nut mixture together. And of course the traditional apricot filling (boiling down dried apricots until they form a thick paste). In my opinion, the pastry fillings don’t have the same rich flavor as those made from scratch.
HI, My grandmother was from Rohrbach An Der Teich, Austria. It’s right near the border of Hungry and at one time was part of Hungry.
I grew up on these cookies and have made them every year since I was 25 (now 70). My grandmother also made the bread that was rolled with nuts, fruit filling, poppy seed, etc. I loved her Kraut Flakel which was caramelized cabbage and flat egg noodles. Also loved her paprika chicken and dumplings (dumplings made with chicken livers).
You wouldn’t happen to have any of those, would you?
Thanks,
Hi Pat,
Thanks for your comments. We make these cookies every year as well – it just wouldn’t be Christmas without them. I believe the walnut and poppy rolls you refer to are called Beigli. We don’t currently have a recipe posted, but we’re planning on it. We do have a Cabbage Noodle recipe on the site as well as Chicken Paprikas and Noodle Dumplings (Nokedli), although those do not use chicken livers as you described. I’d be interested to see that recipe myself! To find those other recipes, just type the word “Hungarian” into the search box in the sidebar.
If you want to make kiffles ahead and freeze them, here are the guidelines: Place wax paper between layers to prevent sticking and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. My late grandmother passed away very suddenly (in a matter of weeks after being diagnosed with cancer) She was the youngest of 8 siblings first generation hungarian american. As these recipes generally go nothing was written down and I have spent a good deal of time trying to match up recipes and what I remember in steps while cooking with her. These were one of my favorite as a child (she used to make some filled with nut roll filling as well, yum yum) I plan on piecing these recipes together in a cookbook with family photos for my daughter. Thanks again as I never knew their actual name, they were always Nana’s hungarian cookies!
Jen, was your grandmother’s last name Kolatt? My mother in law (Loretta) talked about how her mother Elizabeth was the oldest of 8 first generation Hungarian siblings. I’m wondering if it’s the same family.
I love these! My in laws make Hungarian Cookies every year, and they look just like this. We use apricot, raspberry, and poppy seed fillings, and YES! we use the Solo brand too. My mother-in-law insists on it 🙂 Gorgeous pictures!
Amazing pastries, they just look like fun and tasty too…very colourful and excellent photography …thanks for sharing…Saw you on FoodBuzz
These look just like the Slavic Kolachy my family makes every year. The dough also contains cream cheese and butter. I make different fillings out of dried fruit rehydrated with water and cooked until soft. We always have prune with cinnamon, apricot, and cranberry orange for the holidays but you are only limited by your imagination and the dried fruit available at your local grocery store. Mine are filled, rolled and folded. They are addictive! I made 14 dozen this Christmas.
Our local supermarket chain regularly carries Solo pastry fillings, which is the brand we used. These fillings are usually available in grocery chains – check here for a location near you:
https://solofoods.com/where_to_buy.aspx
Also, the fillings are available for purchase online from Amazon.com.
those look delicious… the only thing is, where do you get pastry filling? i have never seen it so I was thinking i could make my own using jam and possibly thickening it up by cooking it down a bit or something.
Always make your own lekvar! (Hungarian fruit paste) Lekvar is great and so easy to make. I make prune and apricot lekvar (sometimes peach, but those two are the best). Also, Hungarian poppy seed filling is scrumptious. Go for it.
I am Hungarian. Lekvar was sold in our family market and it is prune by nature. Apricot and walnut are entirely two different fillings, but both taste great.
try looking at your local deli at the market.. they sell apricot, raspberry and the lekvar in containers…
I found the Solo filling that was mentioned in the recipe in my local Giant Foodstore. It was in the baking section next to the pie filling and pumpkin puree… it was on the bottom shelf and semi hidden, so keep that in mind 🙂
Wow, my granddaughter has a social studies project that involves family customs. One of the millions of traditions we have is making cookies. We have drawn the recipes only from family or recipes that we make up ourselves. My husband’s Mom lived in Allentown, PA, and every Christmas she made gazillions of kiffles. Who knew they were a part of PA culture from Austrian-Hungarian-Slovak traditions. Now my oldest daughter has gotten very good at duplicating Grammie’s Kiffles. I don’t know if I would have had the patience to make them, as they are very time consuming, and of all the cookies we make, she is happiest when she finishes the kiffles. Grammie always bought the filling, apricot was everyone’s fav, in the Farmer’s Market in Allentown, PA, as it was just “apricots,” no sugar added. So now I make it that way. Buy a bag of dried apricots (buy good ones, they are not so dry), add water and gently boil. Keep adding water just enough to not have the bottom burn, keep cooking until the apricots are mush. Add nothing else. When they are all mushy, beat them with anything. There you have it…Grammie’s apricot filling. She also made what she called nut rolls. It was a HUGE kiffle, and you can use the prunes that Solo makes, or I guess make then the same way I make the apricot. I have never made that. The walnuts she ground, mixed with egg white and sugar. Not so much sugar. She believed in something tasting like the main ingredient, not sugar. Love to everyone who had a grandmother, mother who cooked with or for them. It makes me know how loved I was.
My grandmother was Italian and my mom, aunts, grandma would get together and bake tons of Christmas cookies each year. They put a lot of time and love into their cookie baking. They did this for all of us to share and enjoy. Love spoken here.
Hi Sandy,
You’re right, homemade cookies are a labor of love and they make a truly thoughtful gift.
Hi My grandmother was from New Tripoli PA she was Pennsylvania Dutch right outside of Allentown and this is her exact recipe.
We have a lot of fun getting together to make these and they are worth the work! Apricot is our favorite.
Hi Cheri – You’re right, kiffles are worth the work. I love the apricot and the almond!
Most grocery stores have Solo filling. It’s usually near the cans of pie filling.
Dried apricots diced in a food processor, them put in a slow cooker. Add enough water to just cover, cook on low heat. May need to add a little more water as it cooks. Can use an immersion blender to ccompletely puree. The mixture does not burn in the slow cooker as it might when done on a stove.
This is a great tip Claire – thank you so much for sharing!