Potica is a Serbian nut bread and a holiday tradition of my family. It's an involved recipe, however. Potica cookies are less involved and still provide similar flavor and memories.
Break Up The Making over Several Days
The great things about these cookies is that they can be in multiple steps over the course of multiple days if necessary. The dough needs chilling after being made, so whether you wait two hours or two days it won't matter much. Make the dough, scrape down the bowl, wrap in wax paper and store.
The filling too, can be made ahead of time and simply brought to room temperature when you're ready to assemble. When you are ready to assemble it's easiest to roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. I liked the cookie cutters because it kept the cookies a uniform size. However, one could simply cut the rolled out the dough into triangles and roll up like crescent rolls.
Spread the filling around the center of each cut-out, but don't quite go to the edge. This isn't an exact science, if some filling does get to the edge, it's not a big deal. After filling, roll up like a mini-loaf of cinnamon bread and put on a baking sheet. Tucking the ends in is optional, I tried some with the ends tucked under and some open. In the end, I personally liked seeing the swirl on the ends better and won't tuck the ends in the future.
Freezes Well
Potica cookies freeze extremely well. This makes them an ideal cookie to make in big batches and save for holiday parties and gift giving later.
Potica Cookies
A spin on the traditional Serbian Nut Bread, Potica cookies give all the flavor and feel of the bread in a tiny hand-held, delicious style.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- ½ Pound Butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 8 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
Filling
- 1 Egg White
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1/3 Cup Sugar
- 2 1/2 Cups Ground Walnuts
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Cream together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and vanilla extract until thoroughly incorporated. Slowly add in the baking powder and flour until a soft dough forms.
- Divide the dough in half, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours (longer is just fine but use within 2 days).
Make the Filling
- In the top of a double boiler, place the egg white. Heat the double boiler so that the water in the bottom is simmering (not a hard boil), place the top with the egg white over the simmering water and whisk constantly until the egg white becomes foamy and opaque. Remove from heat.
- In another saucepan, combine the butter, milk and sugar. Heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves remove from heat. Fold in the egg white. Add the walnuts and allow to cool. You can put this in the fridge for a couple of days to assemble if desired. Bring to room temperature before spreading on dough.
Assembling & Baking
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Roll the dough out to 1/8" thickness and cut into even pieces. Spread a small amount of filling on each piece of dough and roll up like miniature cinnamon rolls. Place seam side down on baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.
- Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving, if desired.
- Store uneaten cookies in an airtight jar.
Notes
These cookies stay fresh for about a week in a cookie jar. They freeze delightfully if you want to make extra for giving and eating later.
If you'd like my recipe for traditional Potica, it is included in my cookbook, Gift It From Scratch.
These cookies are so pretty. The nut filling is a great touch. I rarely use all purpose flour these days but when I do it is usually King Arthur. I appreciate the unbleached organic approach.
Blessings,
Shari
I love rolled up cookies with cinnamon “stuff” inside! I had never heard of potica, but am so glad you shared them! Being allergic to nuts, I was excited when, a few months ago, I read about a crunchy substitute for nuts in baked goods….chopped graham crackers! I have tried it successfully in rugelach (traditionally filled with cinnamon and nuts) and will give it a try with this potica recipe. Thanks, Kathie!
I had never heard of potica, Kathie, so I am so glad you shared these! Rolled up dough with cinnamon goodness inside sounds good to me! I learned from a rugelach recipe that chopped graham crackers can be used as a crunchy substitute for nuts, if someone is allergic. It sounds weird but it works! I am going to give it a try with these potica cookies!
Sooo, my 14 yr old daughter just walked by and said, “those are the most beautiful cookies I’ve ever seen” and she’s right. I’m sure they are as tasty as they are beautiful. I’m going to add these to our Christmas cookie list. By the way, we call spatulas “last lick” in our family (because they help you get the last lick of the dough or batter ;-) ). It help to avoid confusion with the pancake flipper type spatula.
I just stop here to say hello and to tell you, that potica is Slovenian cake. Serbian kitchen has many great dishes, but potica is not one of them. Anyway, I am glad to hear obout you christmas traditio, itś the same one in our house :) Have you ever tried baking one with tarragon filling? Itś my faworite!!
Nice idea for the potica cookies. I sometimes cut potica in rolls (like cinnemon rolls) and it also looks nice :)
Hello and thanks for the unique twist on potica (or povitica as some call it) with this delicious cookie! I am an avid baker of potica as were generations of women in my family from Serbia. At our church the Serbian woman make 100’s of loaves of potica every year for various holidays and to sell at fundraisers. Potica or povitica is a nut roll made by people in many Balkan countries/regions of Europe. Some people will fashion their nut roll into a “ring” that resembles a cake.
Whether you are Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian, Macedonian, Serbian or even Italian, it’s a traditional bread commonly found in these regions. Each family has their own recipe that is handed down through the years.
Thank you for sharing family’s version! As we say in Serbian “HVALA”
Thank you!
Nice adaptation of a holiday delicacy I grew up with, thanks to my Slovenian roots. I learned to make potica from my mother, who learned by watching my grandma–who never used used a recipe. So my mother got a written recipe (see link above) from the mother of one of her Serbian friends :-) They all grew up in the same “melting pot” neighborhood in Cleveland, where food traditions were shared freely. I believe that many Slavic groups have a very similar dish, although only Slovenians call it “potica” (in the original Slovene language) and consider it their national dish. In Croatian, it’s called”povitica” while the Serbian word is something else. Oh, then there’s the Hungarian take on it. I figure it’s all good. Dober tek!
I have been making Potica for too many years to count. My 10 y/o daughter and I were making some today and I told her I saw Potica Cookies – she said we do have to make them. I make my Potica dough with lemon zest and we added cocoa to the filling a couple of generations ago – I will have to try this with the added lemon zest and cocoa to be more like our own bread!! They look soooooo yummy
About how many cookies does this recipe make.
about 3 dozen.
Thank you for this recipe….sounds good. I’ll give it a try.
You are welcome, enjoy!
Hi there, I’m trying to make the filling, but I am just not sure what to do with the egg whites. Am I whipping them until meringue like? Frothy is easy, opaque means you can see through it. I have frothy on top and liquid I can’t see through underneath. Do I keep going or is that what I’m going for?
You’re good to go, you don’t need meringue.