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.
My Hungarian grandmother’s name was also Elizabeth, she was an amazing cook. I grew up helping her make these cookies, as well as helping with strudel and lots of other dishes. The reason so many girls were named Elizabeth was because that was the queens name and when she died the king decreed that all little girls born be named Elizabeth. My grandmother was born in 1899. Not sure how long the decree was in effect for.
I have been baking these cookies for 40 years! I use jam instead of pastry filling, works just as well. My son’s favorite!
I make a recipe handed down from my Slovenian grandmother that uses sour cream instead of cream cheese and granulated sugar in the rolling-out process (which adds a delicate crunch). Our original family version requires making a 1″ ball for EACH kiffle. I met a woman at a wedding in Bethlehem, PA (where kiffles are part of shared Eastern European culture) who shared her time-saving tip: make a 3 ounce ball, roll it into a circle, cut it like a pizza into 6 wedges. Place 6 dollops of filling near the “crust” edges of the circle. For each wedge fold in and pinch outer corners and roll towards the point like a crescent roll. Place on cookie tray with pointy edge tucked way under the bottom to keep it from opening during baking. My kiffles improved with this method over the 1-circle-per-kiffle method; it may be because of the reduced handling of the dough.
They are filled with apricot, lekfar, poppyseed fillings I am fortunate enough to be able to find at an Italian (surprise!) food supplier. To make a nut filling, grind the nuts in the food processor with sugar, to taste. Then, slowly add the egg white, just until the mixture clumps. No measurements needed, just use your taste buds and judgement.
Hi Christine,
Thanks so much for sharing your preparation method with us. It’s very similar to the way we make rugelach and sounds like a great idea, particularly for people who have trouble keeping the points of the dough closed during baking. Also, the word “kifli” (another spelling) actually means “crescent” in Hungarian, so perhaps it’s a more authentic shape.
Mom was Hungarian and made ‘millions’ of these and other pastries. We love and miss her. I gave Kifflis making a try for the first time this year ever and I must say mom you worked so hard, but thanks for the memories. Kifflis’ meaning is a kiss on the forehead and a gentle hug, hence the folding of the dough around the filling. I learned that meaning and it reminds me of her love.
That’s a really nice sentiment. Kiffles are indeed a labor of love and making them is a great way to honor your Mom.
Nice! my Aunt Jean Kohut, who died last year during July at 102 made these like this.
I make them with squares, (dough) and fold over two sides (diaper) . I love the prune and walnut and apricot ones.
Thank you for your recipe. Brings back lovely memories of my dearest Aunt Jean’s sour cream kiflies.
For the cookie fillings I use Poppy Seed and Apricot, these are what we like. The dough is soft,that is why they go into the refrigator to harden up. I take some every few days to bake. Works out very well.
I am Polish married to a Romanian/Hungarian. I make similar cookies at Christmas called Paluskis (Finger) in English. Made with butter, cream cheese, and a little flour. The dough is mixed,then formed by hand into a round approximately the size of a walnut. Put in the refrigerator for at least 1 day up to 4 days. Take out 6-8 balls at a time and roll in powdered sugar, fill with your fillings then fold over (looks like a finger) tuck ends on the bottom and bake. They come out so flaky and your house smells like bakery. I buy my fillings at our Polish Deli, I use to buy them at our local bakery,but they no longer can sell to the public.
Hi Christine,
Your version sounds great! What kind of fillings do you use?
Not at all happy….made 2 pans of cookies, and every one opened up when cooking, even though I followed your directions. Made them for a cookie exchange, but had to buy store bought to bring instead. Bummer!
Hi Sally,
Sorry you had bad luck with the cookies opening – I think it happens occasionally to everyone who makes them. I’m not quite sure of the reason, although I suspect it may have something to do with the amount of moisture in the butter as I don’t seem to have more than handful pop open when I use European-style butter with less moisture and more butterfat (e.g. Plugra). I also find that moistening the ends of the dough with a little milk before pinching seems to help.
You must let them sit for 10 minutes (after forming cookies) before putting them in the oven…this sets them and they will not open in the oven!
Hi Carol,
Thanks for sharing this great tip. So many people have had problems with the kiffles opening during baking. I’ll be sure to do it myself from now on.
This looks like an amazing cookie recipe! However, being Hungarian (born and raised), I have to tell you, these are NOTHING like kifli (which are yeast rolls shaped into a crescent, kind of like a croissant, typically spread with butter or jam and eaten with breakfast). But they do look delicious! And lekvar means “jam” not prunes. Prune jam is “szilvalekvár”. Apricot jam is “baracklekvár” and so on. And yes, Hungarians really do love their poppy seed filling! (mákos)
Great recipe
Thanks
Trying to get back on this thread…I inadvertently unsubscribed.