Polish Kiffles Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Bake

by: Leigh Suznovich

November17,2021

5

1 Ratings

  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • Makes About 12 dozen

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Author Notes

These are classic and amazing Polish kiffles that are a beloved family recipe! —Leigh Suznovich

Test Kitchen Notes

These adorable holiday treats will soon become your new go-to weekend baking project. Light and buttery, with a store-bought pastry filling, you'll find yourself making these in the wintertime and beyond. Staple ingredients you probably already have include cream cheese, butter, flour, powdered sugar, and an egg. You can use a variety of fillings to make your cookie platter as colorful as you'd like. Just keep in mind that for the best results, and for the easiest cutting and forming, the dough has to chill in the fridge for at least three hours. Of Eastern European origin, you'll find varieties of this dessert spelled kifli, kieflies, or kiffels. They look elegant and are fun to make with kids. The dough is very basic, and you can make a whole bunch at once if you are attending a holiday cookie swap.

To make the dough, blend the cream cheese and butter together. Beat in the flour to form the dough, and that's all there is to it. Divide the dough into quarters, roll it out, then punch out adorable little squares with a cutter. Rolling the dough in both flour and powdered sugar gives the cookies a delicate sweetness and the best texture. Dab the fillings into the center of the squares, then pinch the opposite ends together like a cannoli. The egg wash helps seal the ends and gives the kiffles a beautiful golden brown color after baking. Just about 10 minutes in the oven, and your kiffles will be ready to go. —The Editors

What You'll Need

Watch This Recipe

PolishKiffles

Ingredients
  • 8 ouncescream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 2 cupsall-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
  • Powdered sugar, for rolling and sprinkling
  • 1 can Solo Apricot pastry filling
  • 1 can Solo Cherry pastry filling
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten with a splash of water
Directions
  1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, combine the cream cheese and butter. Gradually add the flour while continuing to beat until a soft, sticky dough forms. Bring the dough together into a ball in the bowl with clean hands, then cover with plastic wrap. Let chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
  2. Heat the oven to 350°F.
  3. Divide the dough into quarters. Dust a clean work surface with flour and powdered sugar and roll out the first quarter until ⅛ inch thick. Using a 1½- to 2-inch square cutter, depending on how big you want them, cut out perfect little squares. Be sure to cut them out as close together as possible to minimize scraps. Take the scraps and roll them out again to cut out as many squares as possible. Arrange the squares on a rimmed baking sheet.
  4. Scoop ½ teaspoon of the apricot filling into the center of the first square. Bring two of the opposite corners together and pinch to seal. It will look like a tiny cannoli. Repeat until all of the squares are filled and formed. Repeat the process with the next quarter of the dough, but use the cherry filling for the second batch. Brush the kiffles with the egg wash to help seal.
  5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.
  6. Let the kiffles cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks. While still warm, dust with powdered sugar. Let cool completely. Repeat the whole process with the last half of the dough, making a tray of apricot and a tray of cherry.
  7. Do Ahead: The kiffles can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store in an airtight container in a cool place.

Tags:

  • Cookie
  • Polish
  • Apricot
  • Cream Cheese
  • Cheese
  • Chill
  • Blend
  • Serves a Crowd
  • Bake
  • Christmas
  • Finger Food
  • Dessert

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Michelle

  • Sherry Wright

Popular on Food52

3 Reviews

Michelle December 15, 2022

These are not kiflis, these are kolacki...but yummy anyway....

Sherry W. August 18, 2018

I love these and make them all the time. The dough is very easy to work with. I just made them, a pan of strawberry ones and I made a batch of lemon curd ones by tapping the squares into a mini cupcake pan (the curd is too thin when it bakes to make as cookies). They are both yum and cooling right now. Lucky me.

Sherry W. August 18, 2018

And whoever came up with 12 dozen needs to come to my house and show me how that worked. I get 16 per quarter of dough.

Polish Kiffles Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What are kiffles made of? ›

For those of you unfamiliar, kiffles are similar in appearance to a flat, rolled croissant with a sweet and often fruity filling. It's light and flaky pastry is due to mixing King Arthur flour, cream cheese and butter.

Do kiffles need to be refrigerated? ›

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.

What's the difference between kolache and kiffles? ›

Kiffles are similar to Polish Kolacky or Czech Kolache (small, sweet yeast buns with fruit filling poked into its side) but use a different dough.

Where did kiffles originate? ›

Kiffles are traditional Hungarian holiday cookies filled with fruit preserves such as apricot, cherry or prune (known as lekvar). Ground walnuts also are sometimes used. The dough for these roll-and-bake cookies is rich with butter and cream cheese.

What are the flavors of kiffles? ›

Available in Mixed, Nut, Apricot, Raspberry or Prune. *The mixed selection is packed heavy with Nut & Apricot fillings, and less of the Raspberry & Prune.

What is the difference between croissant and kifli? ›

The kipfel (aka, the kifli, kiflice, kifle or kipferl,), is a cookie or bread roll . It was much denser than the delicate French croissants. Legends say the crescent shape comes from quite another event in history, the victory the Austrians had over the Ottomans at the siege of Vienna.

What does kifli mean in hungarian? ›

Kifli, kiflice, kifle, or kipferl is a traditional yeast bread roll that is rolled and formed into a crescent before baking.

Can kiffle dough be frozen? ›

Gradually add the flour on low speed and mix just until it's incorporated. Do not overmix the dough. Divide the dough into seven 3-ounce patties (I don't have a food scale, so I just eyeball it) and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. It can also be frozen for up to two weeks.

Can kiffles be frozen? ›

Our kiffles freeze very well, so stock up with a bulk order. Available in Mixed, Nut, Apricot, Raspberry or Prune. *The mixed selection is packed heavy with Nut & Apricot fillings, and less of the Raspberry & Prune. The perfect amount to help accomodate larger nut tossie needs.

Are kolaches German or Polish? ›

In fact, this staple of Central Texan gastronomy actually hails from Czech Republic, where a koláček (the diminutive form of koláč, pronounced kolach; plural koláčky) is a round yeast pastry with a sweet filling in the center!

Are kolaches Czech or Polish? ›

A kolach, from the Czech and Slovak koláč (plural koláče, diminutive koláčky, meaning "cake/pie") is a type of sweet pastry that holds a portion of fruit surrounded by puffy yeast dough. Common filling flavors include tvaroh (a type of cottage cheese), fruit jam, poppy seeds, or povidla (prune jam).

Are kiffles and rugelach the same? ›

In late twentieth century America, kipfel, particularly with an unleavened cream cheese dough, became better known as rugelach.” kipfele had a pronounced F that is no longer around in the Hasidic pronunciation, which is kipele. In the 1933 Crisco Recipes for the Jewish Housewife, there's a kipfel recipe.

How do you keep kiffles fresh? ›

If you plan on keeping the product longer, simply freeze it as soon as it arrives. Then, just thaw and enjoy! What is a Kiffle? A Kiffle is an Eastern European pastry with dough rolled paper thin by hand and filled with assorted fillings.

Who owns Kiffle Kitchen? ›

For Lee Kociolek, the Kiffle Kitchen's founder, producing high-quality baked goods is the lifeblood of her business and one that she's proud to pass on to her sons.

Is it kipferl or Kipfel? ›

It is widely understood that the croissant of today is a descendent of the 'kipferl' (or kipfel) - an Austrian, crescent-shaped pastry that resembles a thinner, denser croissant made with a generous amount of butter and often served topped with sugar and almonds.

What are Benne wafers made of? ›

Apart from the inclusion of the toasted sesame seed, benne wafers involve a pretty standard cookie-based butter. You'll cream together the butter, sugar, and egg, then add the dry ingredients and a bit of flavoring, then fold in the toasted sesame seeds and chill before baking. It's pretty straightforward.

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