Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 4 cups flour
1 pound margarine/butter, room temperature
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 (4 ounce) package of cream cheese, room temperature
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
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Directions: |
Directions:Whisk the 2-1/4 cups flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Mix together margarine/butter, vanilla, cream cheese, and egg yolks. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour-salt mixture slowly, mixing just until combined. The dough will be quite moist, but not sticky. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of lightly floured wax paper and flatten into a square about 3/4-inch thick. Cut into 4 equal pieces and wrap each separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, a minimum of 2 hours.
Assemble the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove one portion of the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a sheet of wax paper dusted with powdered sugar or flour. Dust the top of the dough with powdered sugar or flour and top with another sheet of wax paper. Roll the dough out to a 1/8-inch thickness. You should end up with about a 10-11" square.
Remove the top sheet of wax paper and trim dough into a square with a pastry wheel or sharp knife. Cut the square into fourths lengthwise and crosswise to get 16 squares. (Save your scraps for re-rolling.)
Working as quickly as possible, place about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of filling in center of each square. Pinch together two opposite corners in the center and fold that "point" over to one side and smooth down very gently. This helps to prevent the cookie from popping open as it bakes.
Arrange cookies 1-1/2 inches apart on the parchment lined sheet. Bake until lightly golden, about 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute, then carefully transfer to cooling racks. Repeat the process with the remaining 3 portions of dough, using different filling flavors if desired.
Store between layers of waxed paper in a tightly closed container and refrigerate. Bring 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.
Nut filling:
2 1/2 ponds of walnuts, ground
2 cups of sugar
1 lemon rind, grated
6 egg whites, whipped until it peaks
Mix together the walnuts, sugar, and lemon rind. Set aside. Whip on high speed the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold egg whites into nut/sugar/lemon rind mixture.
Cheese filling: (This must be made the day before using)
1 pound ricotta cheese or dry cottage cheese, drained
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Tapioca
1 teaspoon lemon juice or the rind from 1 lemon, grated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
Drain the cottage cheese, ricotta cheese overnight in a strainer (pressing the water out regularly) or in a cheese cloth (twisting the "neck" of the cloth tighter regularly.) Once drained, mix the ricotta/cottage cheese with the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice/rind and beat until smooth. Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Once thoruoghly mixed, add the Tapioca.
Let stand in the refrigerator overnight.
Poppyseed Filling:
1 pound poppyseeds, ground (butter)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice or the rind from 1 lemon, grated
Mix thoroughly.
Apricot Filling:
1 pound Apricot butter
1 tablespoon Tapioca
Mix thoroughly. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: Because of the high fat content, this dough tends to become soft and difficult to work with rather quickly. During the rolling process, you may need to remove the wax paper and sprinkle on a bit more powdered sugar or flour once or twice to keep it from sticking. I added about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar or flour total throughout the rolling process on this particular batch. If you feel the dough has become too soft after rolling, just put it back in the refrigerator for about 3 or 4 minutes before cutting.
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This recipe for Grandma Nedostup's Cream Cheese Kiffles is from