These cookies are, hands down, my favorite cookies. They are pretty mainstream in Croatia, but I’ve only managed to successfully make them this year. They do require a bit more work, but make such a cute edition to a holiday table that I decided to tackle with them this year again.

The first time I’ve made these cookies, my egg cream filling was a complete disaster which wouldn’t hold together, so my cookies quickly turned into a hot mess. This year, however, I opted for a thick vanilla pudding filling and that worked like a charm.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields about 20-30 cookies / 3.83 EUR)

For the cookie batter:

6 tbsp butter, softened at room temperature (0.80 EUR)

4 tbsp vanilla sugar (0.27 EUR)

2 cups ground walnuts (1.07 EUR)

1 cup all-purpose flour (0.07 EUR)

Pinch of salt (0.01 EUR)

1-2 tbsp plant based milk (0.01 EUR)

For the pudding filling:

1 vanilla pudding dry mix of your choice, which normally yields 500 ml of pudding (0.53 EUR)

2 tbsp sugar (0.01 EUR)

1 and ½ cups milk (0.40 EUR)

For the chocolate glaze:

2 rows dark chocolate (0.53 EUR)

1 tbsp butter (0.13 EUR)

METHOD:

Whisk together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in walnuts, flour and salt. Mix until a dough forms and as needed add a bit of plant based milk. I opted for plant based, so the cookies would have a longer shelf life, but you are more than welcome to use dairy milk instead, if you plan on eating them up quickly. Wrap the cookie dough in cling foil and refrigerate for at least an hour, or for 2-3 days in advance.

When ready to bake, remove the dough from fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, so it’s easier to roll out. Preheat the oven to 175°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper and cut into desired shapes. I decided to cut mine into two sizes, for a bit of variety. Place the cut cookies on a prepared baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes.

The cookies will still be soft when they come right out of the oven, but don’t worry, they’ll firm up as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes on their baking tray, then gently move them to a wire rack to cool completely. At this point you can store the cookies in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks at least, so they are great to bake in advance.

When ready to assemble the cookie sandwiches, cook a thick pudding, using only about 2/3 of the milk amount recommended on the pudding sachet. Allow pudding to cool down a bit before transferring into a piping bag. Pipe the pudding onto half of the cookies.

To make a chocolate glaze, melt the chocolate with butter. Cover the other half of cookies with melted chocolate, then place them on top of the pudding halves. Store the sandwich cookies in your fridge in an airtight container, where they will keep for up to five days.

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Išleri su mi najdraži keksi, a iako su relativno uobičajena vrsta kolača, meni su tek ove godine prvi puta uspjeli. Oko njih možda ima malo više posla, ali su tako lijepi dodatak blagdanskom stolu da sam se odlučila ponovo sa njima uhvatiti u koštac.

Prvi puta kada sam ih radila, krema od jaja mi se nikako nije htjela stisnuti i keksi su na kraju plivali u jajima. Ove godine sam odlučila odmah smanjiti mogućnost takve katastrofe, tako da sam umjesto kreme od jaja išlere odlučila puniti sa gustim pudingom od vanilije.

SASTOJCI:

(Za oko 20-30 keksa / 28,66 kn)

Za tijesto:

6 žlica maslaca, omekšanog na sobnoj temperaturi (6,00 kn)

4 žlice vanili šećera (2,00 kn)

2 šalice mljevenih oraha (8,00 kn)

1 šalica glatkog brašna (0,50 kn)

Prstohvat soli (0,01 kn)

1-2 žlice veganskog mlijeka (0,05 kn)

Za puding kremu:

1 vrećica pudinga od vanilije za 500 ml pudinga (4,00 kn)

2 žlice šećera (0,10 kn)

1 i ½ šalica mlijeka (3,00 kn)

Za čokoladnu glazuru:

2 reda tamne čokolade (4,00 kn)

1 žlica maslaca (1,00 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Miješajte maslac i šećer dok ne budu glatki i kremasti. Dodajte orahe, brašno i sol. Miješajte dok se ne formira tijesto, a po potrebi dodajte mrvicu mlijeka. Ja sam se odlučila za vegansko mlijeko kako bi mi suhi keksi mogli dulje stajati, ali vi slobodno upotrijebite obično mlijeko ako mislite kekse brzo pojesti. Tijesto umotajte u prijanjajuću foliju i ostavite u hladnjaku barem sat vremena, ili do 2-3 dana.

Kada ste spremni za pečenje, izvadite tijesto iz hladnjaka 10-15 minuta ranije kako bi malo otpustilo i da ga lakše možete razvaljati. Zagrijte pećnicu na 175°C. Obložite protvan papirom za pečenje i stavite na stranu. Razvaljajte tijesto između dva papira za pečenje i režite u željene oblike. Ja sam svoje rezala u dvije različite veličine. Izrezane kekse preselite na pripremljeni protvan i pecite 8-10 minuta.

Keksi će još biti mekani kada ih izvadite iz pećnice, ali budite bez brige jer će se stvrdnuti kako se budu hladili. Pustite da se keksi pet minuta hlade na protvanu prije nego ih nježno preselite na rešetku i tako ohladite do kraja. Ovakve gotove kekse možete čuvati na suhom, hladnom mjestu barem par tjedana, tako da ih možete ispeći unaprijed.

Kada ste spremni za zgotoviti išlere, skuhajte gusti puding, i to tako da upotrijebite oko 2/3 mlijeka od onoga što je navedeno u uputama na pakiranju. Pustite da se puding malo ohladi prije nego ga preslite u vrećicu za kreme. Puding istisnite na polovicu keksa.

Za glazuru, rastopite čokoladu sa maslacem. Preostalu polovicu keksa pokrijte glazurom, pa spojite kekse sa polovicama s pudingom. Gotove išlere čuvajte u hladnjaku u hermetički zatvorenoj posudi do pet dana.