Comments on: 12 Days of Cookies: #3 Apricot Bow Ties

By: Fran

Fran — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:21:47 +0000

Brings back great memories! My mother used to make these cookies with prune butter or apricot jam. She was of Croatian descent and everyone loved these cookies!

By: Carole

Carole — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:55:08 +0000

I have a version of these cookies from my maternal grandmother who was Slovakian. We did not call them “kolaches.” The dough differs a bit, and following tradtion, I cook down dried apricots for the filling. You can also use lekvar (prune) or a mixture of sugar, chopped walnuts, and egg white as alternative fillings.

By: Armella

Armella — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:52:19 +0000

I’m from Chicago and my Mom taught me the bow-tie method. You can actually find the recipe on the back of the can of cherry Solo filling.

By: trish

trish — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:55:48 +0000

My mom made a version of these. we are polish. My mom’s dough was very flakey though. she would roll it out and layer butter, fold and roll, butter, fold and roll,… almost like a filo dough. i am craving my mom’s that she filled with lekvar… (prune.)

By: Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:16:46 +0000

Very pretty and I love the flavor of apricot!

By: Renee

Renee — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:22:39 +0000

These are also called rosky — another Polish word. My Polish grandmother and mother have made these for years. My mom swears by Solo apricot filling. She also makes a version filled with a finely ground nut paste that’s wonderful. My favorite, favorite holiday in the world is a mug of hot coffee and a plate of two apricot rosky. Once these have been around a few days it’s helpful to refresh them a bit with some fresh shakes of powdered sugar.

By: jean

jean — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:43:41 +0000

oh yeah I am polish descent, in fact i just moved from poland. theyre actually square.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:13:53 +0000

Hi Stephanie and Pat: They do lose the flakiness on the second day, like most pastries. Not much you can do about it. Luckily, they maintain a nice flavor for a couple of days. If you are interested in longer term storage, the cookies can be frozen for up to a couple of weeks. Simply thaw and dust with powdered sugar. Again, they will lose that initial flake.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:08:57 +0000

As with Pat, any suggestions on storage? They were so nice and flaky yesterday, I put them in an airtight tin and today they are no longer flaky. Doesn’t affect their yumminess at all, just any way to keep that flake?

By: Katherine N

Katherine N — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:09:09 +0000

Hi guys! I’m a huge fan of your website, incidentally, or I wouldn’t have found these.

I’m a New Jerseyian expatriate living in London, but of Eastern European descent. As far as I know, my mom is still making these twice a year. We always called them “kiflis”, which appears to be the more-labourious Hungarian version of these “bow ties” cookies.
They’re EXCEPTIONALLY good with a crushed-walnut-and-honey base filling.

Just letting you know I’m making a batch to bring to Christmas parties this week!
Keep on cooking, my friends.

By: Pat Ralicki McGowan

Pat Ralicki McGowan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:30:52 +0000

This is exactly the recipe my Pittsburgh, PA family has passed down, and they are wonderful!
We use Solo filling as well. I now use parchment paper for baking, which makes the process much less labor intensive – Just swoop the whole sheet of cookies off to a cooling rack rather than handling each cookie individually. I make these early in December and have frozen them undusted. I would appreciate suggestions for storing these goodies.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:12:23 +0000

I am just finishing up a batch of these – they are delish!!! But, be sure to pinch them FIRMLY – my first sheet had a lot of blow outs (oh well, more to sample) I love the 12 days of cookies idea – I’m always looking to add to my repertoire for the holidays.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:43:01 +0000

Thank you, Bella! Of course, you are correct- these are from Fine Cooking. Too many cookies to keep track of! Thanks for pointing out my mistake!

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:39:47 +0000

I just came across your website and saw this recipe and smiled–I made the dough for these last night, with the plan of rolling them out today! (My original recipe was from Fine Cooking, though, not Saveur, although it looks exactly the same.) Glad to hear they turned out well–looking forward to seeing how mine work out.

By: debra in doha

debra in doha — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:20:08 +0000

hi–both sides of my family are Czech. The recipe from the Chicago side is similar to this–my grandmother used poppy seed (solo?) or apricot preserves and folded them bow-tie shape. the other grandmother grew up in Nebraska and her recipe is round, includes yeast, and has jam in it. Both called “kolatch-kies”, spelled kolaches in the recipes they gave me. definitely must be some eastern european cookie “staple”. :)

By: Tracy P

Tracy P — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:07:39 +0000

My aunt (from Poland) used to make these. As a child, I helped with the baking…they looked just like your photo. Thanks for the recipe. All I could remember was to use 1 pound of cream cheese and 1 pound of butter.

By: bella

bella — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:44:01 +0000

These cookies are actually from Fine Cooking magazine (December 2009, page 94), NOT Saveur magazine. You’re right that Debbie Reid, a reader of Fine Cooking from Clearwater, FL, provided the original recipe in the magazine. Either way, I’m looking forward to trying them.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:01:16 +0000

Whoa, Beth- that does sound like it would be good.

By: Beth T.

Beth T. — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:26:32 +0000

I just bought some amazing Apricot Rose Cardamom Jam that I feel would be uber amazing in these cookies.

By: brigette

brigette — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:18:48 +0000

Oh! kolaches are the best. My German mother made them with a yeast dough with prune and apricot filling. Yum!