Kifle cookies are a must have holiday treat at the Simon home. My Mother in Law has been carrying on the Tomich family baking tradition with these cookies and has now passed on the tradition to me. Join us in her kitchen for a step by step video for these Eastern European sweets.
You can also check out the updated recipe for Kifle with even more detailed instructions on my other site The Dinner Bell.
Kifle Christmas Cookies
We love to fill these cookies with apricot filling. Other family members are known to use prunes, cranberries or nuts. But, Mom and I love the sweet, tangy flavor of apricots. We used only the best for this year’s batch. My friends at Traina Foods, makers of the best quality sun-dried fruits, sent us their sun dried apricots to use. Mom, of course, is an expert in apricots after years of kifle making. She was so excited that Traina’s apricots don’t have that waxy, artificial flavor and texture that some varieties have. They taste like real, fresh, pure apricots, making the filling for these cookies taste exceptional.
The other trick to these cookies is in making sure that your butter and eggs are room temperature. As we all know, baking can be a tricky sport, so be sure to follow directions and don’t cut corners.
Happy holidays and happy baking!
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Kifle Christmas Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 64 cookies 1x
Description
A traditional European crescent cookie recipe for Kifle Christmas Cookies with a sweet apricot filling.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups dried apricots
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 package yeast
- 1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature
- 4 egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Place apricots and water in a saucepan and simmer over medium until soft and water is absorbed.
- Add in brown sugar and stir until combined, then blend with a blender until smooth.
- Remove from heat and set to the side. *extra can be used as jam on toast
- Combine flour and yeast and then add in butter, cut up into tablespoons and mix with a fork to break up the butter.
- Add in sour cream, egg yolks and vanilla and mix with fingers until fully combined then remove the dough as a large ball and knead for 3 minutes.
- Divide the large dough ball into 8 evenly sized balls, roll and place in a bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Heat oven to 375F
- Working with one dough ball at a time, place powdered sugar on a clean work surface, then place the dough ball on it and roll out with a rolling pin until 1/4 in thick.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 triangular pieces, like a pizza.
- Place a dollop of the filling near the edge of the dough, then roll up the outside over the filling and start rolling in toward the tip of the piece of dough, pinching the sides so as to seal in the filling.
- Once rolled, place the cookies on a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat and bake at 375F for 13 minutes or until a light golden color.
- Allow to cool then sprinkle powdered sugar over the cookies and serve.
- Prep Time: 40 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: cookie
- Cuisine: European
March 30, 2018, 8:26 pm
This recipe is very similar to my great-great-grandmother’s, who immigrated here from Hungary. We grew up eating them at Christmas and Easter, but I haven’t been able to have them in years due to allergies (I’m allergic to tree nuts and wheat, and can’t tolerate most fruit).
I’m going to try to make these for Easter this year, but will have to try a replacement filling. I’m thinking maybe a chocolate fudge or ganache filling? Or pumpkin? I’ve also tried using red bell peppers as a replacement for fruit (sweet pepper turnovers, sweet pepper upside down cake) and it can work well.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
March 3, 2024, 6:17 pm
These cookies are so yummy