making cookie gifts

Do you find that you have more people you want to remember at the holidays than your pocket book could possibly handle?  I know I do, and I'm always looking for things that are meaningful in some way to my friends.   I want something that will offer a bit of myself.  Since I love to bake, my favorite idea is to pick a cookie or two that's special and make those. Put into a cute container, you can give someone a little taste of the holidays without overwhelming them with too much. 

In my family my mother made these cookies called Kolatchkies.  She recieved the recipe from a neighbor when I was bout 7 or 8 and always made them after that.  Ours were made with a nut filling but I've seen others do them with a fruit filling.  .
I still make kolatchkies, it wouldn't be Christmas without them.

 Since everyone is looking for ideas, I thought I would share this link its got a few ideas too, brought to you by Real Simple http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/easy-recipes-handsome-holiday-gifts-00000000023442/index.html

 
So todays little gift is my family recipe for Kalotchkies

ingredients: 1 & 1/3 cups of sifted flour

             1 cube of butter (1/4 lb)

                                             4 Tablespoons light cream (half & half works)

Mix all ingredients into a dough, and roll thin on a surface sprinkled with powder sugar.  cut into 2 inch squares and place a  1/2 tsp of nut filling in the center of each cookie. have the square look like a diamond,  then fold up 2 opposite corners to look like a swaddled baby.  Bake at 375 degreees for 12- 15 minutes til lightly golden and filling is puffy.

When cookies have cooled, sprinkle powder sugar lightly over them to look like snow.

Nut filling:  1 cup of ground walnuts

        1 beaten egg white

                     1/2 cup of granulated sugar

                  1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

Blend ingredients together and use 1/2 tsp per square.

we have some new friends who are from Russia originally and they make a similar cookie.  They cut their squares a little bigger and use a bit more filling.