I love the hard work and love my grandmother always puts into her cooking. From every cookie to cake to pie to oatmeal, every bit of food is made with care.
As a kid I always anticipated licking the beaters of her famous cheesecake, when nobody frowned upon the consumption of raw eggs. (I’ve yet to steal that recipe.)

When I first took a bite of these little filled hungarian cookies I could literally taste all the flaky layers she rolled by hand into the unique pastry dough.
Every Christmas she makes these special cookies and for the past few years I began making them too.
These cookies were perfect for this month’s Fill the Cookie Jar too, where we share our favorite holiday cookie.

These fancy rolled cookies are made of a unique pastry dough made with flaky layers of butter and cream cheese (I always use reduced fat) wrapped around a mildly sweet combination of walnuts and apples. Last year I used canned pastry filling of poppy seeds and raspberry, which is another traditional option. I love my grandmothers original recipe though, and this is my version of her Nusskuepfels.

Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz Neufchâtel cream cheese, softened
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 to 2/3 cup additional flour for rolling

Filling:
2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
2 apples, grated
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly beat in the flour until it comes together as a dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 portions. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of two hours.

Preheat the oven to 375F.
For the filling, use a food processor to finely chop the walnuts and grate the apples, or chop and grate by hand.

Combine the walnuts, apples, brown sugar and almond extract.

When you are ready to make the cookies, roll each dough ball, one at a time, on a flour dusted pastry mat, to 1/8″ thickness, to yield a 10-11″ square. Trim the edges using a pastry wheel or sharp knife. Save the scraps for the next dough ball.
Cut into 16 even squares.

Place 1 1/2 tsp filling in each square.

Pinch opposite corners together and fold over to lay flat.

Transfer entire pastry mat (or use parchment paper) to a baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, until puffed and just lightly browned on the points.

Cool on baking sheet a minute and transfer to a cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar when completely cooled.

Makes about 5 dozen decadent cookies. Be sure to check out my fellow Cookie Jar friends’ recipes below.

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Nusskuepfels – Apple Walnut Hungarian Cookies

Prep Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes

Number of servings: 64

Per Serving 73 calories

Fat 5 g

Carbs 7 g

Protein 1 g

64

Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 2

*Nutritional value may vary depending upon which ingredients are used.

*PointsPlus® calculated by Famished Fish and in no way endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc.

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz Neufchâtel cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup additional flour for rolling

For the Filling

• 2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
• 2 apples, grated
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract

For the topping

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, slowly beat in the flour until it comes together as a dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 portions. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of two hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 375F.
3. For the filling, use a food processor to finely chop the walnuts and grate the apples, or chop and grate by hand. Combine the walnuts, apples, brown sugar and almond extract.
4. When you are ready to make the cookies, roll each dough ball, one at a time, on a flour dusted pastry mat, to 1/8″ thickness, to yield a 10-11″ square. Trim the edges using a pastry wheel or sharp knife. Save the scraps for the next dough ball. Cut into 16 even squares.
5. Place 1 1/2 tsp filling in each square. Pinch opposite corners together and fold over to lay flat.
6. Transfer entire pastry mat (or use parchment paper) to a baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, until puffed and just lightly browned on the points.
7. Cool on baking sheet a minute and transfer to a cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar when completely cooled.

Here are some more Holiday Cookies to try!