Cookies with Walnut Meringue Topping

These are simple shortbread cookies with a walnut meringue on top. For an even better look, a blanched hazelnut sits in the middle. The recipe comes from the Czech Republic, where they call them "Myslivecké knoflíky" (hunters' buttons).

The combination of the buttery cookie base with a walnut meringue tastes simply delicious. Czechs bake this goodness before Christmas as one of the many legendary Czech Christmas cookies.

MY TIP: Try out also these walnut-shaped cookies filled with buttercream - they are so delicious!

Ingredients

To make meringue-topped cookies, you'll need:

SHORTBREAD COOKIE DOUGH:

• All-purpose flour
• Unsalted butter; take the butter out of the fridge about half an hour in advance to allow it to soften
• Coarse sugar
• Egg yolks; keep the egg whites for meringue
• Milk

WALNUT MERINGUE TOPPING:

• Egg whites; leftover from making the dough
• Coarse sugar
• Ground nuts; I grind nuts on my own in a grinder. I use walnuts, although hazelnuts or almonds are also suitable. You can also simply use groundnut flour.

FOR DECORATION: Hazelnuts without skin (blanched hazelnuts).

I used hazelnuts with the skin on, baked them briefly in the oven, and then rubbed them in a towel to remove the skin. Variation: instead of hazelnuts, a third of a walnut kernel will also do a good job.

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

Instructions with Photos

BEFORE YOU START BAKING: Crack the eggs, separate the whites from the yolks. Grind the nuts (if you haven't already bought the ready-made nut flour).

STEP 1: Making cookie dough: Put the flour in a bowl, add the butter, egg yolks, and sugar. Work into a smooth dough. Do not knead it for a long time so that the baked cookies are not hard.

STEP 2: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to rest for at least an hour.

STEP 3: In the meantime, prepare the walnut meringue. I whip the egg whites over steam.

Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a large pot. Place a smaller pot into the larger one, so the bottom doesn't touch the water. Let it steam, and then turn the heat down to low.

Add the egg whites to the top pot and whip with an electric mixer. Slowly at first, then faster and faster. Gradually add the sugar. Whip for about 5 to 10 minutes until the snow is nice, smooth, shiny, and perfectly stiff.

Put the ground nuts into the egg white snow and mix by hand.

The meringue prepared in this way will keep its shape perfectly even during baking.

STEP 4: Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit on a kitchen worktop for ten minutes. Now roll out the dough on a floured work surface to about ⅛ inch (3 to 4 mm) thick – not too thin.

Using a cookie cutter, cut out discs from the dough with a diameter of about 1.½ inches (3.5 cm). Use a flat knife to transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

STEP 5: Place the nut meringue in a decorating bag and pipe a nut cap on each cookie. Arrange a hazelnut in the center.

STEP 6: Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 340 °F (170 °C) for 15 minutes.

Storage

Store the cookies in a cool, dry place. Use a sturdy, clean paper box with a lid lined with paper napkins.

The cookies will be crispy at first but soften over the next few days.

Useful Tips

• These cookies are baked about two weeks before Christmas in the Czech Republic.
• Without a tip, I used a decorating bag to pipe the meringue mixture onto the cookie discs. If you use a piping tip, get a plain one.
• The egg whites, whipped on the warm steam, are called Swiss meringue (more about this technique in this video - in English).

More Czech cookies:

• Linzer cookies – linecke cukrovi
• Pracny – spiced cookies with walnuts
• Coconut meringue cookies – kokosky
• Podvodnice – Christmas cookies

Recipe Card