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Filled Walnut Cookies
These Christmas cookies are an absolute must on our holiday table! They’re one of our all-time favourites, and without them, Christmas simply wouldn’t feel like Christmas. The name varies depending on which moulds you use and whether you fill them. The dough itself is so delicious that when baked on its own, it makes wonderfully crisp cookies known as bear paws. But when you bake them in walnut-shaped moulds and fill them with cream, you create the iconic Czech Filled Walnuts — the star of any Christmas cookie collection.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 240 g plain flour (UK) / all-purpose flour (US) = 1 2/3 cups
- 190 g unsalted butter (or baking fat like Hera if available) = 13 tbsp (just under 1 cup)
- 120 g granulated sugar = 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
- 2 whole cloves, ground
- A pinch of cinnamon
- A little baking powder (about 1 teaspoon)
- 90 g finely ground walnuts = 3/4 cup
- 10 g cocoa powder (unsweetened) = 2 tbsp
Fillings (choose one):
(You can fill the cookies with any of the following creams. All are traditional and delicious.)
1. Rum Filling (My Mother’s Traditional Version)
Ingredients are added by eye — just:
- a little butter
- a little powdered sugar
- a little rum (preferably dark rum)
My mother always mixed it without measuring, and it was always perfect — the best filling for these cookies!
2. Walnut–Rum Filling
- 2 blocks of butter (approx. 200–250 g total) / 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 3 tbsp milk
- 5 tbsp ground walnuts
- 7 tbsp powdered sugar (UK: icing sugar)
- 1 tbsp rum
3. Walnut Filling (No Alcohol)
- 125 g unsalted butter (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 6 tbsp ground walnuts
Postup
Dough
1
Knead all ingredients into a smooth dough. Press the dough into the moulds.
Do not fill the moulds completely — just “coat” the inside, leaving a hollow centre.
The dough will puff slightly in the oven, and you also need space for the filling.
2
Arrange the filled moulds on a baking sheet and bake in a moderately preheated oven at 180°C (fan-assisted).
3
Once baked, tap the cookies out of the moulds and let them cool completely.
- Cookies baked this way are delicious even on their own. You can leave some of them unfilled and simply coat them in vanilla sugar. In that case, they’re called bear paws.
- If making filled walnut cookies, keep the half-shells ready for filling.
Cream Filling
4
First beat the butter with powdered sugar. Then add the remaining ingredients according to the filling option you chose.
Refrigerate briefly so the cream firms up and won’t run.
Fill one half of each walnut shell with cream and gently press another half on top to form a whole “nut”.
Let the assembled cookies chill in the fridge until firm.
Optional: Roll them in powdered & vanilla sugar.
Transfer the finished cookies to a paper-lined box and store in a cool place.
To Serve
Lightly dust the chilled cookies with powdered sugar and arrange them on decorative plates or Christmas trays.
These cookies only get better as they rest — their flavour develops beautifully after a few days.
