Recipe Talk

Does anyone have these cards? I've lost the card for the cookies with the cream cheese pastry & walnut filling.

Walnut Filled Hungarian Cookies
Time 15 minutes
Serves 16

Ingredients
1 pound cream cheese softened
1 pound butter softened
1 pound flour

Filling:

1 pound ground walnuts
1/2 cup milk warmed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice

How to make it
Combine cream cheese, butter and flour then mix well and form into 1” balls.
Refrigerate overnight then roll thin.
Mix filling ingredients until well combined.
Fill each cookie with filling and bake 10 minutes at 400.
Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Authentic Hungarian Walnut Rolls

Yield: 64 Cookies

Authentic Hungarian Walnut Rolls

These traditional Hungarian cookies have a sweet, nutty filling inside a flakey, rich pastry! While they are traditionally made at Christmastime, they are outstanding any time of year!

Ingredients

For the Pastry:
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar for rolling

For the Walnut Filling:
½ pound freshly ground walnuts (finely)
1 cup sugar
½ cup of boiled milk
1/8 cup melted butter

Instructions

To make the Walnut Filling:
1.Mix filling in a medium bowl using only ¼ cup of the boiled milk. The mixture should be thick.
2.If the filling is not spreadable, use the rest of the milk. I used all of it. It will thicken as it sits.
3.Note: You can make the filling ahead of time and freeze it until you are ready to use it. Just thaw at room temperature when you are ready to use.

For the Pastry Dough:
4.Sift flour and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
5.Beat the cream cheese and butter together with a stand mixer or a hand mixer until completely incorporated and creamy (3-5 minutes).
6.
6.Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add in the flour. I used 5 additions and completely mixed in the flour each time. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
7.Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and flatten each to ¾” thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until hard, at least 2 hours.

Assembling the Walnut Rolls:
8.Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Move the oven rack one setting higher than the center.
9.Take one of the disks of dough from the refrigerator and lightly flour both sides. Spread granulated sugar on your pastry board or work surface. Place the dough on top and roll out pastry to 1/16” thick or as thin as possible. Most recipes say 1/8” but my Husband remembered them being thinner. Thinner is better. If you roll them too thick, the bottom will burn before the inside has a chance to fully cook and puff up. They still taste good but they taste so much better when properly rolled. Promise. Just trust me here.
10.With a pastry wheel or sharp knife, trim the dough into a square and then cut the square into 16 smaller squares. My dough never rolled out into a perfect circle so I would just cut as many 1 1/2 “ squares a possible, saving the scraps for later.
11.Place a dollop of filling in one corner of each square. I used ½ teaspoon.
12.Starting in the corner with the filling, roll the dough around the filling from corner to corner, gently pressing down as you roll. Grab the roll on both sides and pinch as you bend the roll to create a crescent shape. Gently move it to a parchment covered baking sheet, placing the Rolls no closer than 1” apart.
13.Repeat with all remaining squares.
14.Sprinkle the middles of the Rolls with just a touch of granulated sugar.
15.Bake 12-14 minutes or until the bottom edges are a golden and you can smell them. They should puff up slightly in the middle. With experience you can see when the dough is cooked. Let cool slightly on the pan on a wire rack and then move them gently to a wire rack to cool completely.
16.Repeat with all remaining dough. Refrigerate and re-roll your scraps. Amazing.
17.For a more traditional cookie, you can omit the granulated sugar and dust the final, cooled cookie with powdered sugar. I will warn you that it won’t be as divine.

Notes:

Note: Recipe from June Meyer’s Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes Cookbook. The Walnut Filling recipe can also be found on her website. You can look forward to more Hungarian heirloom delicacies. I’m borderline obsessed!

The most difficult part about these cookies is storing them so that they don’t get soft. They will still taste yummy but the crispy flakey crust with the caramelized bottom is really sensational. I found that layering them between sheets of wax paper and then wrapping the stack loosely in foil will keep them as crisp as possible.

You don’t want to cut a corner and not re-roll your scraps. They make the best cookies because they have been rolled out twice in sugar!

MCCALL'S BASIC COOKIE MIX AND
6 CHRISTMAS COOKIE VARIATIONS
Source: McCall's magazine, December 1991

Basic Cookie Mix
Rolled Sugar Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies
Checkerboard Squares
Gingerbread People
Chocolate-Dipped Peanut-Brittle Fingers
Lemon Linzer Cookies

BASIC COOKIE MIX

2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt; mix well. With pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Place in airtight container; store in refrigerator (mixture will keep for up to 8 weeks). Bring to room temperature before using. Recipe can be doubled or tripled.

ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES
Makes 3 dozen cookies

1 recipe Basic Cookie Mix
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine ingredients; at low speed, beat until mixture forms a dough.

Divide dough into thirds. Working with one third at a time, on lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick; cut out with 3" cookie cutters. Transfer to prepared baking sheets.

Bake 8 minutes or until golden. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

If desired, decorate with icing, candies and colored sugars.

CANDY CANE COOKIES
Makes 20 cookies

1 recipe Basic Cookie Mix
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
red paste food color
1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz) crushed peppermint candy
red edible glitter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine cookie mix, egg and vanilla. At low speed, beat until mixture forms a dough. Divide dough in half; remove one half from bowl. With food paste, tint dough in bowl red; add candy. Mix well.

On work surface, divide each half dough into 20 equal pieces; working with one piece at a time, roll dough into 8-inch rope. Place a plain and red rope side by side; press together lightly and twist. Place twist on prepared baking sheet; curve top to form cane. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with glitter; transfer to wire rack to cool.

CHECKERBOARD SQUARES
Makes 4 dozen cookies

1 recipe Basic Cookie Mix
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
melted chocolate or chocolate icing and white icing

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine cookie mix, egg and vanilla. At low speed, beat until mixture forms a dough. Divide dough in half; remove one half from bowl. To dough in bowl, add cocoa powder; knead to mix well.

On work surface, on separate sheets of waxed paper, roll each half of dough to 9x6-inch rectangle. Using paper to lift dough, invert plain dough onto top of chocolate dough. Remove paper from plain dough. Using long chef's knife, cut dough lengthwise into 2-inch wide strips. Stack strips, removing waxed paper and alternating colors. Cut stack lengthwise into three equal strips. Stack strips so colors alternate; gently press stack so dough layers stick together. Wrap stack in plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 hours.

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

Remove plastic wrap from dough; cut stack crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices checkerboard side down on prepared baking sheets.

Bake 8 minutes or until golden. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

With pastry bag and writing, decorate cookies with dots of chocolate and icing.

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE
Makes 3 dozen cookies

1 recipe basic cookie mix
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
white icing
red cinnamon candies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine cookie ingredients; at low speed, beat until mixture forms a dough.

Divide dough into thirds. Working with one third at a time, on lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/8-inch thick; cut out with 3-inch cookie cutter. Transfer to prepared baking sheets.

Bake 8 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Decorate with icing and candies.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED PEANUT-BRITTLE FINGERS
Makes 42 cookies

1 recipe Basic Cookie Mix
2 large egg yolks
1 tbsp water
FOR THE PEANUT BRITTLE TOPPING:
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups unsalted finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
FOR THE DIPPING CHOCOLATE:
12 oz semisweet chocolate
3 tbsp vegetable shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 15 1/2x10 1/2x1-inch jelly-roll pan; line bottom and sides with sheet of aluminum foil. Grease foil.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine cookie mix, egg yolks and the water. At low speed, beat just until mixture forms a crumbly dough. Pat mixture over foil on bottom of prepared pan; bake 20 min or until dough is golden brown. Remove pan from oven.

TO MAKE THE PEANUT-BRITTLE TOPPING:
In heavy med saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and heavy cream; over med heat, bring to boiling, stirring. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in peanuts. Spread peanut-brittle topping mixture over cookies in pan.

Bake 15 minutes or until topping is brown and bubbly. Remove pan from oven; cool cookies slightly.

Using ends of aluminum foil, lift cookies from pan; cut crosswise into thirds. Cut lengthwise into 14 strips; remove cookies from aluminum foil. Cool cookie "fingers" completely on rack.

TO PREPARE THE DIPPING CHOCOLATE:
Line another wire rack with waxed paper. In top of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, combine chocolate and shortening. Over low heat, cook mixture, stirring, until chocolate and shortening are melted and mixture is smooth.

Dip each cookie finger into chocolate mixture to cover halfway; place cookie on prepared rack to dry.

LEMON LINZER COOKIES
Makes 2 dozen cookies

1 recipe Basic Cookie Mix
1 large egg
1 tsp grated lemon zest (colored part of peel)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (for filling)
Confectioners' sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine cookie mix, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice. At low speed, beat until mixture forms a dough.

Divide dough in half. Working one half at a time, on lightly floured surface, with lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough 1/8-inch thick; cut out with 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out centers of half of the cookies. If desired, reroll dough centers for additional cookies. Transfer dough rounds and rings to prepared baking sheets.

Bake 8 minutes or until cookies are golden; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

With 1 tsp jam each, cover flat sides of rounds. Place a cookie ring, flat side down, on top of each filling-topped round. Dust tops of cookies with confectioners' sugar.