Leave it to my talented mother to be the pastry chef of our family. Not a trained pastry chef, but she was a master chef in her own right – talented at both cooking and baking.

Many desserts that she made were of her home country, France. Like chocolate mousse, and a staple in our house – crème caramel. But my mother dabbled in International cuisines as well, so the provenance of her recipes varied greatly.

One of my favorites was Greek baklava. Another were these cookies – beautiful sweet crescents with a puffy walnut filling. At the time I didn’t realize it was the fresh yeast that gave the cookie dough its unique flavor, which I think isn’t available any longer. And the walnut meringue was fabulous even though I wasn’t a walnut lover.

I’ve always kept the recipe my mother used, typed by me on those stiff index cards, which wasn’t easy on a typewriter! But I had no information on the source of the recipe. Well that was before the internet, of course!

These cookies are indeed from Yugoslavia, according to google, and not to be confused with kifli. Origins of these cookies trace back to ancient times. The slightly sweet treat was thought to be an offering to the goddesses.

Yugoslav  Kifle
Makes 2 dozen cookies
Printable recipe below

Dough:
2 cups sifted flour
1 cake compressed yeast (1 packet or 1 teaspoon dry yeast)
4 ounces chilled butter
2 egg yolks (save whites for filling)
1/2 cup sour cream
Powdered sugar
Melted Butter

Filling:
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Put flour into a large bowl. Crumble in compressed yeast. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add egg yolks and sour cream. Mix well.
form into a ball.

On slightly floured board, knead until smooth, 5-10 minutes. Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Wrap in waxed paper. Chill in refrigerator at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling by combining the walnuts, sugar and vanilla.

Fold in the egg whites.

On a board sprinkled with powdered sugar, roll each part of the dough into an 8 inch circle. Cut each into 8 triangles.

Fill wide end of each wedge with 1 tablespoon of walnut filling. Roll up from wide end of triangle to point. Place on greased baking sheets, curving ends to form crescent shape.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Dust with powdered sugar.