Growing up with the Slovak side of my family, these cookies were and still are a staple of our holidays! My great-aunt told me when I was a kid that these were made to represent the baby Jesus wrapped up in his manger. They're usually made with a variety of different fillings, like apricot, raspberry, and even fig, but my favorite has always been the nut filled ones. Traditionally the nut kolache is made with only walnuts, but I like to add some pecans to the mix to change up the flavor - plus I live in the south now, so that's a great mix of my new home and my yankee roots! I also add a little more sugar than normal recipes to help sweeten up the cookie a little more, so don't expect these to do any favors to your waistline.. but then again, it's the holidays so the calories don't count... right?
Servings: 4 dozen
Prep Time: 50 min + chilling
Total Time: 1 hr 20 min + chilling
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cookie...
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups flour
Powdered sugar for rolling
For the Filling...
3 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups ground walnuts
1 1/2 cup ground pecans
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl cream butter and cream cheese until blended. With the mixer on its slowest speed, gradually add the flour and combine until a dough forms and it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Separate the dough into three portions, roll each portion into a large ball, flatten each into a disk, wrap each disk with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
For the filling, in a small bowl, beat egg whites and vanilla on medium speed until foamy.
Add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the walnuts and pecans.
Generously coat a work station with powdered sugar. roll out each dough disk into a roughly 12 inch square, about 1/8th inch thick. Use more powdered sugar as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
Using a ruler, cut the dough into 16 3x3 inch squares.
Using a spoon, make a 2 inch long log out of the filling and place in the center of each square from one point to its opposite point. Fold the other two point in to "wrap" the filling, overlapping one point on top of the other. Press the points together well or else the cookie will come apart in the oven. I usually crease the folded edges and try to make an indent where the points meet to try to prevent that from happening.
Place two inches apart on a cookie sheet that's been prepared with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. Repeat until all the filling or dough has been used.
Sprinkle each cookie with a little more sugar and bake about 10 minutes. The bottoms should be golden brown. Finish cooling on a wire rack and dust with powdered sugar if desired!
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