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.
