My family has a holiday tradition that I absolutely love. We wake up early Christmas morning, open presents, and then eat Romanian Kifla Cookies for breakfast. That’s right, cookies for breakfast!
These cookies are delicious, and you will enjoy them (for breakfast?) whether it’s Christmas or any other day of the year. The recipe I’m sharing makes 8 loaves, which are a lot, but we love giving them as gifts too. So feel free to cut the recipe in half if desired!
To make, you’ll need:
8 cups flour
2 cups butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces yeast
2 cups sour cream
8 egg yolks
2 pounds finely diced walnuts
2 cups sugar
6 teaspoons cinnamon
powdered sugar
Begin by cutting the butter into the flour until it has the consistency of coarse gravel.
Then combine the salt, yeast, 1/2 cup of sugar, sour cream and egg yolks into a smaller bowl.
Stir the small bowl.
And add it to the coarse gravel (I promise, the cookies will be appetizing even if the directions aren’t!).
Then mix everything together.
Now divide the dough into 8 balls, cover in cellophane, and refrigerate overnight.
To make the filling, add the walnuts, remaining sugar (1.5 cups) and cinnamon to a bowl.
And then mix it together.
Now take the dough out of the fridge, and place onto a bed of powdered sugar.
Roll out the dough so it looks like this:
Then spread the filling out evenly on top of the dough.
Next, roll it up like a jellyroll.
And tuck in the sides as you go, like this:
You should end up with loaves that look like this:
Bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. They are done when they have a nice golden color, like this:
To serve, cut 1/2 inch thick slices and enjoy.
I hope your Christmas was as good as these cookies!
~A
For all of my Christmas recipes, click here.
Oh wow it looks so incredibly delicious! <3
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Thank you, they are!
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Hello, I just made these today and I wanted to thank you for providing this wonderful recipe! They came out perfectly. :)
You didn’t specifically state what type of yeast to use so I used the “Instant yeast.”
For others who may want to try it: I baked 4 loaves at a time for 27 minutes since my oven is on the smaller side. I also melted the butter beforehand instead so it was easier to mix into the flour. I also tested to see if the overnight refrigeration mattered by putting 4 loaves in at night and taking them out in the morning, and also making 4 loaves immediately in the morning, and there was no difference, at least for me.
Thanks again! My whole family loved them. :)
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I’m so glad you liked our family recipe Natasha! And thank you so much for the tips – that will save us some time in the future!
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Yes, I loved it! I’ll definitely make them again come Christmas time or maybe for a special occasion. :)
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My Grandma used to make these every Christmas! I never had the recipe or knew what they were called until last year. Got the name from my cousin. I can’t wait to make them! Brings back good memories- thanks for posting!
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You’re welcome Judi! It makes me so happy that you can make them again! Enjoy!
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I’m very excited to find this recipe. It appears to be similar to one I’ve had before I’m not sure how much to use for these eight loaves. My 94 year old mother-in-law is Eastern European and we love Minerva’s baking each holiday. I’m trying to make these this year for her. Please tell me….Can I use the packages of dry yeast instead of the cake yeast? How much?
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How sweet, thank you for sharing a glimpse into your family baking traditions! I wouldn’t recommend using dry yeast because the loaves likely won’t turn out correctly. Good luck and I hope you and Minerva enjoy the cookies!
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