Sugar-coated Hungarian Walnut Shortbread Cookies. Bite into perfectly scrumptious roasted nutty crunch and shortbread crumbliness.

Sugar-coated walnut cookies on wire tray, one broken in half, cracked walnut kernels in the foreground.

Quick & easy. With few ingredients and a simple baking process, these delicious cookies are a quick and easy win.
Make ahead. Simple to break the cooking steps in stages, for instance make the cookie dough a day or so ahead of baking.
Great as gifts. These little baton shaped Walnut Cookies are perfect as gifts, particularly around Christmas time.

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Ingredients
How to Make these Walnut Shortbread Cookies
Top Tip
More Hungarian Recipes
📋 Recipe Card

Ingredients

Walnuts, flour, sugar, salt, butter and bicarbonate of soda all in glass dishes, bottle of vanilla essence and eggs laid out.

Walnuts.
Plain flour.
Bicarbonate of soda.
Butter.
Sugar.
Eggs.
Vanilla essence.
Salt.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make these Walnut Shortbread Cookies

Soft butter is needed to make these simple Cookies, so make sure to take the butter is out of the fridge in good time to soften. Otherwise, a quick fix for rock solid butter is to cut it into cubes and place in warm water. Leave for about 10 minutes, then drain the water from the softened butter.

Heat the oven. Light the oven and set the heat to Gas Mark 3 (160 degrees C).

Chop the walnuts. Finely chop 2.5oz (75g) walnuts.

Walnuts halves and walnut pieces on wooden board next to chef's knife.

Sift the flour. Sieve 14oz (400g) flour together with ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda.

Flour and bicarbonate of soda in sieve held above glass mixing bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar. Put 7oz (200g) soft butter (you should be able to easily flatten it with a spoon) and 3.5oz (100g) caster sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat rapidly with a wooden spoon until it becomes lighter in texture and colour. The creamed butter and sugar should have a slightly fluffy texture and white tinge.

Butter and sugar being stirred with wooden spoon in glass mixing bowl.

Beat in egg and vanilla essence. Add 2 eggs and a few drops of vanilla essence to the creamed butter and sugar. Beat in well.

Creamed butter with eggs mixture being stirred with wooden spoon in glass mixing bowl.

Mix in flour. Add the sifted flour and bicarbonate of soda mix in stages (about a third at a time) to the egg and butter mix. Use your hands to bring the dough together when adding the last amounts of flour.

Flour being stirred into sugar, butter, egg mixture by wooden spoon in glass mixing bowl.

Shape and chill. Shape the dough gently into a rough rectangular shape. This will make it easier to roll out later to a rectangle. Wrap the dough up in baking paper, foil or cling film. I generally use baking paper. Place the wrapped up dough in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. About 10 minutes before taking the dough out of the fridge beat the egg as detailed in the next step.

Walnut cookie dough shaped into rectangular shape on baking paper.

Beat 1 egg. In a small bowl beat 1 egg with a small pinch of salt. This egg will be brushed onto the rolled out pastry later. By adding a small pinch of salt, the egg will break down after a few minutes and become more liquid and easy to spread.

Roll out and brush with egg. Roll out the pastry until it is about 32cm long, 20cm wide, 1cm deep. Brush the pastry generously with the well beaten egg. The egg will help to bind the chopped walnuts to the pastry when these are layered on to, so more egg rather than less.

Rolled out cookie pastry being brushed with beaten egg.

Cover with chopped walnuts. Press the chopped walnuts down gently into the surface of the rolled out pastry using the flat of your hand. Make sure that none of the walnuts are loose.

Rectangular rolled out cookie pastry covered in finely chopped walnuts.

Sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on the walnut covered pastry.

Walnut covered rolled out cookie pastry sprinkled with white sugar.

Slice. Cut the pastry in half lengthways, and then in strips about 2cm wide each to make about 32 Walnut Shortbread batons.

Walnut shortbread cookie dough covered in chopped walnuts and sugar sliced into baton shapes.

Bake. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the Walnut Cookies spaced apart onto the parchment paper. bake the Walnut Shortbread Cookies for about 10 to 14 minutes until the Cookies are lightly bronzed.

Walnut shortbread cookies laid out on baking paper that has previously been scrunched up.

Top Tip

Use the flat of your hand rather than a rolling pin to press the chopped walnuts into the pastry. This helps prevent the pastry from being rolled out flatter. Also, take care to ensure that all the walnuts are pressed well into the pastry. Otherwise, the chopped walnuts will simply fall over the baked cookies.

Sugar-coated walnut cookies on wire tray, one broken in half.

More Hungarian Recipes

📋 Recipe Card

Hungarian Walnut Shortbread Cookies

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Ingredients

2.5 oz shelled walnuts
14 oz plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
7 oz butter
5 oz caster sugar
3 eggs
salt

Instructions

Heat the oven. Light the oven and set the heat to Gas Mark 3 (160 degrees C).
Chop the walnuts. Finely chop 2.5oz (75g) walnuts.
Sift the flour. Sieve 14 oz (400g) flour together with ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda.
Cream the butter and sugar. Put 7oz (200g) soft butter (you should be able to easily flatten it with a spoon) and 3.5 oz (100g) caster sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat rapidly with a wooden spoon until it becomes lighter in texture and colour. The creamed butter and sugar should have a slightly fluffy texture and white tinge.
Beat in egg and vanilla essence. Add 2 eggs and a few drops of vanilla essence to the creamed butter and sugar. Beat in well.
Mix in flour. Add the sifted flour and bicarbonate of soda mix in stages (about a third at a time) to the egg and butter mix. Use your hands to bring the dough together when adding the last amounts of flour.
Shape and chill. Shape the dough gently into a rough rectangular shape. This will make it easier to roll out later to a rectangle. Wrap the dough up in baking paper, foil or cling film. I generally use baking paper. Place the wrapped up dough in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. About 10 minutes before taking the dough out of the fridge beat the egg as detailed in the next step.
Beat 1 egg. In a small bowl beat 1 egg with a small pinch of salt. This egg will be brushed onto the rolled out pastry later. By adding a small pinch of salt, the egg will break down after a few minutes and become more liquid and easy to spread.
Roll out and brush with egg. Roll out the pastry until it is about 32cm long, 20cm wide, 1cm deep. Brush the pastry generously with the well beaten egg. The egg will help to bind the chopped walnuts to the pastry when these are layered on to, so more egg rather than less.
Cover with chopped walnuts. Press the chopped walnuts down gently into the surface of the rolled out pastry using the flat of your hand. Make sure that none of the walnuts are loose.
Sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on the walnut covered pastry.
Slice. Cut the pastry in half lengthways, and then in strips about 2cm wide each to make about 32 Walnut Shortbread batons.
Bake. Line a baking tray with baking paper and bake the Walnut Shortbread Cookies for about 10 to 14 minutes.