Kiffles are a local favorite when it comes to cookies, particularly Christmas cookies. The Kiffle Kitchen outside of Bath, PA has made their reputation on their outstanding kiffles, now sold on line! I used to enjoy them but never took the time to make them in the past. Now that I can’t eat gluten anymore I thought, why not bake some gf kiffles? They are a sort of local Ukrainian specialty so finding them in a cookbook and also gf was a challenge. Luckily, early this year I purchased “Gluten-Free Baking Classics The Heirloom Collection” by Annalise G. Roberts. It was published in 2014 and I bought it brand spanking new – not one miss in anything I have baked from it so far. Page 170 had the answer to my search; Rugelach, Kifles, and Kolaki.
I got my courage up and made a batch of kiffles (the preferred local spelling) on Christmas Eve afternoon. I just did jam filled, apricot and raspberry. The cream cheese dough in formed into two discs and chilled before rolling out between wax paper sheets into an 8 inch square. I did find myself chilling the rolled out dough a bit to keep it from getting too soft as I filled and formed the kiffles. Not too cold but chilly. After rolling and a slight chill, cut each big square into 16 two inch squares and put a tsp. of best quality jam on each; fold together so the filling peeps out both ends and chill some more on the baking sheet. I brushed them with heavy cream and sprinkled a touch of granulated sugar on before they hit the hot oven. The cute packets of dough and jam bake up lightly browned and delicate. The apricot filling did bubble out somewhat but they were still tasty. Success was felt when my mom ate a few that evening. Her smile told me how yummy they were. 
Next time I will make them with the nut and cinnamon filling that is very traditional around the Lehigh Valley. I also hear that stores sell special kiffle filling meant just for these cookies. Gonna look for it; hopefully gluten free and therefore safe for me to enjoy.
So if you are gluten free and crave kiffles; this cookbook by Annalise Roberts is the place to find a workable recipe. She has never failed me yet with her desserts and I thank my lucky stars her cookbooks are on my shelf to guide me through holiday, parties and everyday meals. I don’t mean to sound like a salesperson for her but I can’t say enough great things about this new cookbook and her prior best seller Baking Classics – my copy of that is well worn and I couldn’t exist without it. This kiffle recipe is way too involved to type out for you and I think that if you are serious about baking gf you need to check it out and get your own copy, real soon!
Note: I did a search on line for a gluten free kiffle recipe and didn’t really find one; lots of other cookies but these are quite a specialty and not made by most home cooks except in areas where they are popular and what you can buy is definitely not gluten free. Let me know if you can provide any other kiffle recipes but I am very happy with the results and can heartily recommend to you for your own gf holiday baking. Enjoy!
My World Without Wheat 
If you are interested in Gluten Free Kiffles, Nut Tassies, Zucchini Bread, etc. Please visit my webstore at http://www.thebakeare.net. Thank you.
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For those who don’t bake; this might be a great place to get some yummy gluten free baked goods.
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Wondering why you didn’t provide a recipe? Too long to type (3 pages in her cook book) and I feel I should respect her hard work and suggest you get a copy. See other comment by me today.
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The recipe is in Annalize Roberts’ cookbook. I believe I mentioned that. Suggest you get the cookbook. Support this author; she is amazing in terms of so many quality gf baking recipes.
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I agree and just sent the mywoldwithoutwheat a message about my disappointment just now.
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This is definitely a disappointment. When I searched for your recipe to bring these to our Christmas Eve gathering, and found there was no recipe, I was discouraged both from following you and the author of the ‘acclaimed’ book. Why rave about these great cookies without the recipe? You do the reader in his/her search, a disservice. It’s like an ad that leads people on. I happened to have 50% of my grandchildren who have been diagnosed GF, so I am always on the lookout for great baking recipe BOOKS. I had already added the author’s name of GF books to buy, but I’ve crossed it out. If you are touting her ‘extraordinary talent’ then the recipe should have been added. Without one, it’s like going out in public without wearing pants. I’ll look elsewhere for my recipes in online and book form.
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If I listed every recipe from every cookbook, I used I wouldn’t be fair to those authors. They don’t write cookbooks as a free public service. But more important to my health, this recipe is very long; like 3 full pages in her book. So, by the time you have typed the dough portion, the several fillings and how to put them together in the correct way to get the desired result my fingers are exhausted, my neck is sore, and 2 hours have passed. If you are really interested in the recipe details, you should get her cookbook; there are many other good recipes in it and I do occasionally type out some of them but honestly, I am not typing a three-page recipe plus this author worked hard to perfect her recipes and once in a while I feel if you like an author’s product you should spend the $ to get your own copy. I even gave you the ingredients and amounts so you can decide if you are interested in making it. I am also going to tell you that if I copied a recipe directly from someone else’s blog they would tell me to take it down; that I can link to their post and even give ingredients, but I cannot re-post the entire recipe. this has actually happened to me, and I am very careful about this issue. If you cook gf a lot this book is a great one. Your loss if you refuse to get it in a temper fit at me! Merry Christmas!
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