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Baked goods

Horárove gombíky: Slovak walnut meringue cookies

Name: Horárove gombíky: Slovak walnut meringue cookies
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: About 40 cookies
Cuisine: Slovak
Ingredients: 300 g All-purpose flour; 30 g Powdered sugar; 140 g Shortening; 2 Egg yolks; 3 Egg whites; 200 g Ground walnuts; 200 g Powdered sugar

These Slovak Christmas cookies have a tender pastry base, walnut meringue filling, and a walnut half on top. Makes about 40 cookies.

Slovak cuisine · Christmas cookies and baking · Translated from Slovak · October 24, 2026

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Recipe at a glance

Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 hr
Temperature: 150 °C (300 °F)
Servings: About 40 cookies
Difficulty: Easy

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Horárove gombíky, or forester's buttons, are traditional Slovak Christmas cookies that many families consider essential to the holiday table. Cut rounds from a tender dough made with shortening and egg yolks, top each with a teaspoon of filling made from stiffly beaten egg whites, ground walnuts, and powdered sugar, and press a walnut half on top to resemble a button. Bake at a very low temperature, about 150 °C (300 °F), until the meringue filling dries out. This recipe puts the egg whites left over from making the dough to good use.

Ingredients

Dough

All-purpose flour 300 g
Powdered sugar 30 g
Shortening 140 g
Egg yolks 2

Filling

Egg whites 3
Ground walnuts 200 g
Powdered sugar 200 g

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Instructions

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Dough
Mix the dough ingredients together to form a dough, roll it out, and cut out rounds. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold in the ground walnuts and sugar.
Place a teaspoon of filling on each round and press a walnut half into it. Bake the cookies at a very low temperature, about 150 °C (300 °F), for approximately 20 minutes, until the meringue filling dries out and the pastry rounds are lightly golden.

Tip: Place the filling in the center of each round, leaving space around the edge, as the meringue will spread a little during baking. Press the walnut halves in gently so you don't deflate the meringue.

Nutrition facts

Approximate values per piece, calculated from the ingredients

Energy: 111 kcal
Protein: 1.9 g
Carbohydrates: 12 g
of which sugars: 5.8 g
Fat: 6.4 g
of which saturates: 0.9 g
Fiber: 0.5 g
Salt: 0.0 g

Calculated from the raw ingredients, without frying oil. Where an amount is “to taste”, typical amounts are used. Food composition: USDA FoodData Central and product labels.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Horárove gombíky s orechovým snehom – vianočné pečivo