The kiefle (pronounced "key-flee) is the Christmas cookie of choice for anyone hailing from South Bend, IN. It's a delightfully flaky, crescent-shaped pastry cookie with walnut filling. I've been told it's a Polish cookie. The Internet tells me it's Hungarian. Yet this particular cookie and filling only seems to have ever appeared in The South Bend Tribune sometime in the year 1940. <br /> <br />Growing up, both my grandmothers and mother each made triple batches which was an all day, sun up to sun down affair. My brother and I knew not to bother mom on "kiefle day" and we'd get to order a pizza for dinner, a very rare event, because she wouldn't have time to make a supper. <br /> <br />My dad is notorious for stashing the cookies away in his hidden cabinet spot and then trying to sell them to fellow family members once the kieflies have all been consumed for the year. <br /> <br />They're great cookies all on their own, the sentiment is a bonus. I've changed the flours to make it a gluten free cookie so that I can keep the tradition going with my own family. The rest of the recipe remains the same as was handed down to me and what I will hand down to my daughter when she is grown. <br />

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