Kiffles or Kiflis are traditional Hungarian pastries that are made during the holiday season. These pastries are hand rolled paper thin and then stuffed with pastry / pie fillings.
Kiffles are traditional Hungarian pastries that are made during the holiday season. These pastries are hand rolled paper thin and then stuffed with pastry/pie fillings. The dough is made with just 3 ingredients; cream cheese, butter and all purpose flour.
I added a bit of salt in the dough to bring out the flavors. When reading through the description of kiflis, I initially decided that I will fill them up with some jam. Only when I researched further, did I realize that I should be using pie filling instead of jam as they would run off the dough when baking.
I have never used the pie filling and had no idea how they would be. I was debating whether to make my own filling or buy them. Before making the filling, I decided to go to the stores to take a look. I saw that we had Solo brand of pie fillings available and that was what I was looking for.
There were many different flavors that I saw online that were available and my boys absolutely wanted the pineapple flavor. When I went to the store, there were only 2 flavors on the shelf, apricot and prunes plum.
I was glad that they were of two different contrasting colors and that would look good for the pictures but worried if my boys would eat the prune flavor.
I made the dough for the Hungarian pastry the night before and again, this is one of the firsts for me. Having never made a all fat dough and was really looking forward to how it was going to hold the shape. The dough was very soft when I made it and totally understood the need for refrigeration.
I refrigerated the dough overnight and it was perfectly hard the next morning. In fact, I had to leave the dough out for few minutes before I started rolling it out. The first chunk of dough was all over for me and I never managed to get a good rectangle. I trimmed the corners and measured out 2 inches squares.
Shaping the pastry
I wanted to make the nice fancy crinkled edges for my Kiffles, but I don't have the crinkled cutter. A bulb flickered in my mind and I knew that there was a crinkled roller in the play dough set that my son has.
Praying hard that I find the box with all the play dough gadgets, I ran upstairs and found the fancy roller. I could not have been more excited than this.
I assembled the pastries and baked the first batch. My husband was just leaving to work, when the first batch came out and I quickly gave him one to taste test. He loved it and wanted to taste the other flavor as well.
On his way out he mentioned that the pastry shell was marvelous and they just melted in the mouth. Not saying it out loud, I said to myself, this is what an all fat dough does.
My greatest critics were going to taste it only in the evening. I finished photographing them and waited for my boys to come home. My oldest came home and the first thing he asked was, what's new I baked today. I showed him the Kiffles and he loved how they look.
He ate one kiflis and then another and then another and a few more without saying a word. A few minutes later, he came to me and said this is one of the best pastries he has had in a while. He mentioned that these were not too sweet and the sweetness from the pie fillings were just right.
Preparation time - 10 minutes
Baking time - 12 to 15 minutes
Difficulty level - Intermediate
Recipe adapted from - My Gourmet Connection
Ingredients to make Kiffles - (makes 4 dozen)
- Cream cheese (plain) - 4 oz (softened)
- Unsalted butter - 8 tablespoon (softened)
- All purpose flour - 1 cup plus about 2 tbsp
- Salt - ½ tsp
- Cake and Pastry filling (I used Solo brand) - I used Apricot and prunes flavor
- Flour - for dusting the surface when rolling
- Sugar - for sprinkling
Procedure to make Kiffles -
To make the Dough -
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and the cream cheese until fluffy. Be sure to leave the cream cheese and butter on the counter to soften.
- Mix the flour and salt in a small bowl. Add this mixture in 4 batches to the butter mixture. Mix well after each addition.
- I used my hand mixer to beat the butter. Once we add the flour, the mixer will start to clump up. At this stage, use your hands to mix it and make a soft dough.
- This is a fat dough, so the dough will be very soft, but not sticky.
- Divide the dough into two and pat it down. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. If overnight is possible, refrigerate at least for 3 hours.
To shape and bake the pastry -
- When ready to roll, dust the work surface with plenty of flour. Remember that this is a all butter dough and hence will become soft much quicker. Hence we need to dust the surface and the rolling pin with sufficient flour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Layer a baking sheet with parchment and keep it ready.
- Let the dough sit out of the refrigerator for 5 minutes and then roll it into thin rectangle. There are several thickness that is mentioned, but I would just say, roll it as thin as possible. Keep lifting the dough often so it does not stick to the surface.
- Using a serrated roller cutter or plain pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2 x 2 squares. Try to keep the squares as equal in size as possible. I used a ruler to guide me when I was cutting the dough.
- Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square.
- Bring one corner over the filling and then the other corner over the first one and pinch to seal. Repeat the same with all the squares.
- I would suggest that you work as quickly as possible, as the dough becomes very soft the longer we leave it out.
- Place the shaped kiffles on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle little sugar over them.
- Bake the kiflis for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges starts to turn slightly brown and the pastries starts to firm up. For this kiffles pastry, I would highly recommend using double tray to insulate as the bottom of the pastry could burn easily.
- Let them cool in the tray for a couple of minutes and then transfer the kiffles to the cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store the kiflis in a container layered between parchment paper to avoid sticking.
Expert tips
The Kiflis dough can be a little tricky to work with. when very cold, it is hard to roll. when it warms up too much, they start sticking. I would suggest having all the ingredients ready and work with the dough quickly.
If making a large batch of the Hungarian Pastry, you could place the fillings in a piping bag and pipe them on to each square. I used a small spoon to place the filling, but it was time consuming.
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
Recipe
Kiffles | Kiflis | Traditional Hungarian Pastries
Equipment
- bowl
- Oven
Ingredients
- 4 oz Cream cheese Plain (softened)
- 8 tablespoon Unsalted butter Softened
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- Cake and Pastry filling I used Solo brand - I used Apricot and prunes flavor
- Flour For dusting the surface when rolling
- for sprinkling Sugar
Instructions
TO MAKE THE DOUGH -
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and the cream cheese until fluffy. Be sure to leave the cream cheese and butter on the counter to soften.
- Mix the flour and salt in a small bowl. Add this mixture in 4 batches to the butter mixture. Mix well after each addition.
- I used my hand mixer to beat the butter. Once we add the flour, the mixer will start to clump up. At this stage, use your hands to mix it and make a soft dough.
- This is a all fat dough, so the dough will be very soft, but not sticky.
- Divide the dough into two and pat it down. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. If overnight is possible, refrigerate at least for 3 hours.
TO SHAPE AND BAKE THE PASTRY -
- When ready to roll, dust the work surface with plenty of flour. Remember that this is a all butter dough and hence will become soft much quicker. Hence we need to dust the surface and the rolling pin with sufficient flour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Layer a baking sheet with parchment and keep it ready.
- Let the dough sit out of the refrigerator for 5 minutes and then roll it into thin rectangle. There are several thickness that is mentioned, but I would just say, roll it as thin as possible. Keep lifting the dough often so it does not stick to the surface.
- Using a serrated roller cutter or plain pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2 x 2 squares. Try to keep the squares as equal in size as possible. I used a ruler to guide me when I was cutting the dough.
- Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square.
- Bring one corner over the filling and then the other corner over the first one and pinch to seal. Repeat the same with all the squares.
- I would suggest that you work as quickly as possible, as the dough becomes very soft the longer we leave it out.
- Place the shaped kiffles on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle little sugar over them.
- Bake them for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges starts to turn slightly brown and the pastries starts to firm up. For this pastry, I would highly recommend using double tray to insulate as the bottom of the pastry could burn easily.
- Let it cool in the tray for couple of minutes and then transfer the kiffles to cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store them in a container layered between parchment paper to avoid sticking.
Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner says
That is such a awesome cookie.. I loved the way you have shaped it 🙂
Pavani says
Those cookies look very inviting Sandhya and from reading the post, it looks like your whole family LOVED it 🙂 Lovely clicks.
Natalie says
Ohhh this is familiar to me 😀 Kiflice are traditional dessert around here in Balkan area. I can honestly say, and I've seen and eaten a lot of kiffles in my lifetime, that this kiffles looks absolutely amazing. You did a really great job Sandhya 🙂
Kylee from Kylee Cooks says
i do love a good mini pastry. These are so cute, and I love that you made two different kinds. I would love these!
Soniya says
Wow.. they looks so pretty!!You have explained it so well!
Daniela Anderson says
We have them in Romania too, we call them "cornulete", they are absolutely delicious. Mum makes them often, and I can't have enough of them. They are great with any jam or Turkish delight.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
The world is so small. We learn so much about different cultures through food. Thanks for sharing!
Sara @ Modern Little Victories says
Talk about a stroke of genius using the play dough cutter for these! They look great with that little added touch on the edges!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
They do right! Some fun in the kitchen 🙂
swathi says
These mini pastries looks delicious love the contrasting color from apricot and prune filling. I will give it a try.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Swathi! Do let me know how you liked them.
Sapna says
Those mini pastries looks irresistible. Seriously your bakes are always amazing and you made them looks so simple.
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
These are so pretty. Filling them with pie filling is awesome, but like you I would have thought jam worked too. I love the pretty little edges...and melt in your mouth pastry is always delicious.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Gloria, the jam would have definitely seeped out. Glad I used the pie filling.
ManilaSpoon says
Wow! You truly are talented and each week I am in awe of the goodies you produce!! I have never had hungarian kiffles but I sure want to try them now!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks a lot! These month long challenges do keep us very busy and we learn a lot about other cultures.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
The cookies are so very pretty -- dainty. They certainly would be attractive on a dessert table -- so many pie filling varieties that could be used. I'm pinning the post so I can have the recipe at Christmas.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
They are very eye catching Marisa! WOuld be great on a dessert table.
Veena Azmanov says
I've never had prunes in puff pastry before. I love apricot... sounds so yum. Look so pretty!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I was not too sure about the prunes as well Veena, but they were delicious.
Priya Srinivasan says
i loved these when u shared on FB sandhya , lovely color, must be tasting great!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
They were mildly sweet and very flaky. Disappeared in no time 🙂
Adriana Lopez Martn says
These cookies look so good. Great for coffee or tea time but also for gourmet gifts! Thanks for sharing your tips.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Adriana! They are great for holiday season.
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
This little mini bite sized treats look perfect as a snack or breakfast. I've never heard of kiflis but the dough sounds really simple to make. I could think of lots of yummy fillings and yours looks great!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Stephanie! They would be good for breakfast as well as they are not overly sweet.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
oh wow these are super cute.. Very pretty and inviting.. I think its the best way to eat prunes. 🙂
Srivalli Jetti says
Wow these treats look so cute and out of the world..looks like so much work and yet you did it like a breeze!..lovely choice sandhya!
Priya Suresh says
Wish i get some kiffles rite from you, they looks just pretty and attractive. Absolutely gorgeous.
PRADNYA says
Sandhya - the pastry is similar to the one i made walnut rolls with...i loved the pastry dough so much and these look so beautiful
Sowmya says
I love your idea of using kiddo's playdough roller...marked for future reference!! These pastry shells look amazing...so pretty and tempting though simply reading about the all fat dough will make me gain a few kilos 😉
harini says
These mini pastry shells look out of the world. I love how you used the play dough roller in there 🙂
Vaishali Sabnani says
Sandhya your bakes are par excellence . These mini pastries look super attractive and like the boys say .. one of the best !
I loved reading this post and while you were running up to find that box , I wished we were neighbors , since I have that crinkle knife ?. Lol There are times when I wish our group would stay close by , to share all the food , equipment and even groceries .?