One of the half billion reasons my husband is amazing is that he is passionate about baking like me. His mom instilled that in him with all of her incredible baking that she would do. These delectable Polish kiffles were a mainstay for the Holidays in their house as far back as hubby can remember. My first Christmas with him found me baking them with him and his sister and it was wonderful. I had never even heard of them before! Now I can’t imagine life without them. So I made a huge batch as part of my Holiday baking extravaganza and I was thrilled with how they came out.
Let me tell you, this recipe made a ton. We had about 6 dozen little kiffles on our hands when we were done. It was an all day affair, but man was it fun. These little jewels were stored in my tins and ready to give out to friends, neighbors, you name it. I hope you all enjoy this family classic! xoxo
These Polish kiffles are a Christmas staple in my husband's family! The easy cream cheese dough surrounds pie filling to make them look like little jewels.
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 sticks butter softened to room temperature
- 2 cups flour plus additional as needed
- powdered sugar as needed for dusting
- 1 can Solo Apricot Pastry Filling
- 1 can Solo Cherry Pastry Filling
- 1 whole egg lightly beaten with a splash of water for egg wash
- First, prepare the dough. Combine the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl and beat them together well with a hand mixer. Slowly add the flour in while you continue to beat the batter until it forms a soft, sticky dough. Bring the dough together into a ball in the bowl with clean hands, then cover it. Let it chill in the refrigerator for three hours. When the three hours are up, pre-heat the oven to 350 and line 2 sheet trays with silicone mats.
- Take the dough and divide it into quarters. Dust a clean work surface with a little flour and powdered sugar and roll the first quarter out until it is 1/8 inch thick. Use a 1 1/2 to 2 inch square cutter, depending on how big you want them, and cut out perfect little squares out of the rolled out dough. 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 more squares as possible. Lay the squares out on one of the sheet trays.
- Scoop 1/2 a teaspoon of the apricot filling into the center of the first square. Then bring two of the opposite corners together and pinch them together well. It will look like a tiny cannoli. Repeat that until all of the squares are filled and formed into the kiffles. Then repeat the process with the next quarter of dough, but use the cherry filling for the second tray. Brush all of the kiffles with the egg wash to help seal them and make them golden, then bake them for 10-12 minutes. They should be golden.
- When they are done, take them out and let them cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks to finish cooling. While they are still warm, dust them with more powdered sugar. Repeat the whole process with the last half of the dough, making a tray of apricot and a tray of cherry. When they are all completely cooled, store them in sealed tins where they will keep for weeks in a cool place. Enjoy giving them out and eating them for the Holidays!
I am Polish on my mothers side and grew up eating these as a child! I have not had them in years, but could you help me craft a vegan recipe? I went vegan 7 years ago, but LOVED these as a child!
I’m really not that well versed in vegan baking unfortunately but I know a couple of colleagues who are. Let me see what they say. It is difficult since the majority of the dough of a traditional kiffle is cream cheese and butter.
Love these little treats of I have never heard of before. So many different fillings I could use.
Absolutely! Blueberry, or even walnut filling works great in them too. Thanks so much for the feedback!! 🙂
That sounds so good. Have to try it because I just made marmelade.
Oh yum! Marmelade would be perfect in them. I hope you love the recipe! 🙂
What was used for the cutter for the dough shapes? I am Polish and want to try this recipe. Can’t eat just one! 🙂
Oh yes, they are definitely addictive. I used a square cutter that was about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in size. It depends on how big you want to make these little jewels, but the square cutter is the way to go :-). Hope that helps!
This looks yummy and cute! Perfect for guests, and for ourselves!
Thank you so much!!
They sounds absolutely amazing, can’t wait to try them
Thanks very much!!
I definitely would like the cherry filling more but they both look tasty
The cherry is my favorite too!!
Wondering if I can find a vegan recipe somewhere because this is something I’d love to try x
Oh I am sure there must be a vegan version, these are a classic! I hope you find one and try them :-).
I have never heard of these before but I absolutely would love to try them. They look like they are so very good!
Thank you so much!!
I want to make these but I don’t have the Solo fillings. Can I make them with regular jam?
I’ve never done it, the baking may make the jam too runny. I would go for any type of canned fruit pie filling you can find, it doesn’t have to be Solo brand. Hope that helps!
So I made these twice and both times they have opened on me. I close them by wetting them with a bit of cold water and then egg wash them. And they still open on me. Any suggestions? should I refrigerate them after I fill them?
I still eat them, though. They are amazingly delicious. Help!
I have some that open on me too. Sometimes they are just stubborn. I just close them as firmly as I can until the closing is basically one piece and hope for the best. So glad they still were delicious though!!
I would love to try making these but 1/2 teaspoon of filling? That is such a tiny amount. Am i missing something?
It does seem like a tiny amount, but these cookies are tiny and too much filling will make them not stay closed. You can adjust the cookie size and filling size to what you would like though! Hope this helps.