Paul Zullo's Schneken Recipe

Recipe from Paul Zullo, Quality Assurance and Development Chef at Cornell Dining

My mom has been making these cookies and ten other varieties since 1972 and this one is my favorite. She has made these cookies (and the ten others) every year for Christmas, without fail in production size batches! She acquired this recipe from my kindergarten schoolmate’s mom whose grandfather owned a bakery and made these delicious cookies. This is a German recipe whose name means snail in German due to their shape and they are a nice cross between a pastry and a cookie. I have recently made these cookies and expect a batch from Mom soon as Christmas approaches! Memories of cookies baking in the oven with a scene of our home kitchen converted into a full-fledged bakery in the days leading up to Christmas, from when my sister and I were young and then decades later the grandchildren getting into the act, will always be a fond and tasty memory!

Schneken

Step 1:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 lb salted butter - room temperature

Blend flour and butter until well combined.

Step 2:

3 egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup milk

1 package dry yeast

Blend yolks, cream, milk and yeast together. Let rest 15 minutes or until yeast dissolves. Add to flour and butter mixture until a dough forms. Divide into 6 pieces, form each into a ball and slightly flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Step 3:

1 cup fine chopped walnuts ( or nut of your choice like almonds or hazelnuts)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Divide mixture into 6 portions. Roll out disc of dough until approximately 1/8” thick. (If desired use powdered sugar to facilitate rolling as one would use flour to roll out dough.) Cover both sides of disc with nut/sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Trim disc of dough into 16 pieces (like slices of pizza). Roll up each piece from the outside to the point.

Bake at 325F for 25 minutes on parchment paper or a silicon lined cookie sheet.

Yield: Recipe makes 96 cookies. The raw disc of dough may be frozen and defrosted when desired to prepare a fresh batch of baked cookies.