Cookbook:Kifli

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

Kifli crescents are Hungarian pastries.

Variation I

Variation I
Category	Cookie recipes
Yield	60–80 cookies

Ingredients

• ¼ cup milk, warmed
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ lb (1 cup) butter
• 1 pinch salt
• 3½ tbsp sugar
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 egg yolks
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ tsp vanilla
• Filling (e.g. walnut filling, jam, etc.)

Procedure

1. Mix together milk, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar, then set aside. Ensure it does not clump.
2. Using a pastry knife, mix flour, butter, salt in a bowl until crumbly.
3. Add 3½ tbsp sugar and baking powder to the flour mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add the yeast mixture, then the sour cream and vanilla.
5. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. You should get a dough with the consistency of peanut butter cookie dough. Add additional flour if the dough is too sticky.
6. Knead dough well and let stand 2 hours in a warm place. To allow the dough to rise, place the bowl with the dough (covered with a tea towel) onto the top rack of the oven and place a bowl of hot water on the lower rack. Leave the oven off, and this setup will gently warm and allow the dough to rise.
7. Divide the dough into 5 equally-sized balls.
8. Sprinkle sugar on a board, put a dough ball on the board, and roll out into a circle about 12 inches across.
9. Flip the dough over and put more sugar on the board. Cut like a pizza into wedges about 1½ inches at the widest. Put about 1 tsp filling on each wedge and roll in sugar.
10. Bake on a cookie sheet at 325°F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Variation II

Vanilla kifli is the traditional Hungarian holiday cookie.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup vanilla sugar
• 2 squares (1 ounce) semisweet chocolate, chopped

Procedure

1. Cream together the butter with the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour to make a dough.
2. Shape into a ball, cover, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
4. To form the crescents, roll about 1 Tbsp of the dough in the palms of your hands. Then continue rolling to form a rope about 3 inches long and ½ inch thick. Bend rope to form crescent. Repeat with remaining dough, placing crescents on ungreased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.
5. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies should be white in color. Let cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes to prevent breaking. Then, while cookies are still warm, carefully roll in vanilla sugar. Repeat with remaining cookies. Cool cookies completely.
6. Melt chocolate in a double boiler set over low heat. When cookies are cool, dip tips of each cookie in melted chocolate, then set on waxed paper to set.