Walnut Shaped Cookies (Orechy)

These are cookies baked in the shape of a walnut, filled with delicious buttercream. They count among the most admired Czech Christmas cookies, which Czechs make every year at Christmas time.

Czechs call these cookies plnene orechy (correctly spelled plněné ořechy). In English, it means filled nuts!

For baking, you need special walnut-shaped molds. Fortunately, these can be found on Amazon. I will refer to the molds later in this recipe.

MY TIP: Also try these pracny cookies (Czech favs!)

Ingredients

For the filled walnut cookies, prepare:

NUT DOUGH:

• All-purpose flour
• Powdered sugar
• Unsalted butter
• Walnuts; or blanched almonds or hazelnuts. Another option is to use flour made from groundnuts.
• Cocoa powder; dark, Dutch type

BUTTERCREAM FILLING:

• Unsalted butter; softened at room temperature
• Powdered sugar
• Rum; in the US, for example Costco Kirkland spiced rum or Stroh 54
• Walnuts; or hazelnuts, almonds (or nut flour)

Next, take some butter and plain flour to grease the molds.

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

Instructions with Photos

STEP 1: Grind the walnuts if you have them whole. Place the ground nuts in a bowl, add the flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and chopped butter.

STEP 2: Work into a smooth dough, wrap in plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for at least two hours.

STEP 3: Meanwhile, prepare the molds: grease each with a bit of butter or other fat and dust with flour. Knock off any excess flour.

STEP 4: Take the nut dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the kitchen counter for about 15 minutes. Scoop out equally sized pieces, pressing each into the prepared mold.

Press the dough in the center slightly with your thumb to create a well. This is where the filling comes.

STEP 5: Place the filled molds on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven preheated to 340 °F (170 °C) for 10 minutes.

STEP 6: Allow the baked cookies to almost cool, then gently tap each mold side down on the work surface; the cookie should fall out easily.

STEP 7: Prepare the buttercream for the filling: beat the softened butter with the powdered sugar, add the finely ground nuts and rum.

STEP 8: Fill the cookies with buttercream. You need a round knife or two teaspoons. Finally, cover the filled part with the other cookie.

Storage

After baking, the nut cookies are crispy, but after a few days, they start to soften.

Once filled, place the cookies in a sturdy paper box with a lid. Line the bottom of the box with tin foil and place a napkin on top of the tinfoil. Use the napkins to line the sides of the box as well. Place the nut cookies in the box, cover them with the napkin again, and close the box with the lid.

Store the nut cookies in a cool, dry place where they will keep for up to two weeks.

Walnut Cookie Molds

Special walnut-shaped molds are used to make these cookies. They are made of steel, designed to bake delicious sweets in the oven.

You can buy molds on Amazon; for example, these are suitable: Walnut shaped cookies

Useful Tips

• If you want the cookies to be properly dark, add an extra half tablespoon of cocoa.
• On the contrary, if you prefer light nut cookies, prepare a dark, color-contrasting butter filling cream - in this case, add a tablespoon of dark cocoa to the cream. Do not add any cocoa powder to the dough.
• I always grind my nuts fresh for baking, using a conventional hand grinder.

More Christmas cookies:

• Linzer cookies
• Vanilla crescents
• No-bake beehives
• Easy coconut balls