Ezhiki – Hedgehog Cookies
Another classic holiday or special occasion cookie are these ezhiki. They literally translate to “little hedgehogs”, because of their prickly outer appearance. They would be great cookies to make with a bunch of friends. It’s always more fun to chat while rolling these yummies in a chocolate glaze and then in the wafer crumbs. Have any of you had cookie baking parties? They sound like so much fun! The cookie itself holds a surprise in the center. I used raisins this time, but you can use any kind of nuts, dried fruit or even chocolate candy. The tender and sandy texture of the cookie just melts in your mouth. You can coat the cookies in different wafers, cookie crumbs or chopped nuts.
Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 hard boiled egg yolks
1/3 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2-3/4 cup raisins
Chocolate glaze:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup milk
6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 (8oz) pkg chocolate wafers
Instructions:
For the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Hard boil 5 eggs. Peel the eggs and eat the egg whites as a snack:). You will need only the yolks for this recipe.
Using egg YOLKS in cookie batter? Say what? I know it sounds strange, but it really works! Eggs give moisture and fat to a recipe. Both are really important. Sometimes, too much moisture is not what you want. Egg whites contain a lot of moisture, so by using only egg yolks, we get rid of a good amount. When the yolk is hard boiled, moisture is trapped within the protein structure, and the moisture in the eggs is gone. The result? Tender, crumbly and a beautifully tender textured cookie that melts in your mouth.
Mash the egg yolks well with a fork or push it through a sieve, in other words, you need to break it up really well, almost into a powder. 
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the egg yolks and continue mixing until well combined.
Add the sour cream and vanilla and also mix.
Whisk the flour and baking soda together in a small bowl. Add to the batter and mix just until incorporated. The batter will be really soft but won’t stick to your hands.
Roll the batter into 1/2 Tablespoon round balls. Place about 3 raisins in the center of each cookie. 
Place the cookies on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. 
For the glaze:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the rest of the ingredients.
Bring to a boil. Pour the chocolate glaze into a bowl or pie plate. 
To assemble:
Grate the wafers on a boxed grater or pulse in a food processor to make crumbs. Place the crumbs into a pie plate or other rimmed plate. 
Dip each cookie into the glaze and then dredge in the crumbs. 
Let the crumbs set and dry by keeping the cookies in a single layer. Once they are dry, you can store then on top of one another.
Ezhiki – Porcupine Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 mins
- Yield: 80-85 cookies 1x
- Category: Sweets
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 5 hard boiled egg yolks
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2–3/4 cup raisins
Chocolate glaze:
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 6 Tablespoons cocoa
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 (8oz) pkg wafers
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Hard boil 5 eggs. Peel and eat a snack of the egg whites:). Mash the egg yolks well with a fork or push it through a sieve, in other words, you need to break it up really well, almost into a powder.
- Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks and continue mixing until well combined.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla and also mix.
- Whisk the flour and baking soda together in a small bowl. Add to the batter and mix just until incorporated.
- Roll the batter into 1/2 Tablespoon round balls.
- Place about 3 raisins in the center of each cookie.
- Place the cookies on prepared baking sheet. Bake for approximately 12 minutes.
For the glaze:
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Pour the chocolate glaze into a bowl or pie plate.
To assemble:
- Grate the wafers on a boxed grater or pulse in a food processor to make crumbs. Place the crumbs into a pie plate or other rimmed plate.
- Dip each cookie into the glaze and then dredge in the crumbs.
- Let the crumbs set and dry by keeping the cookies in a single layer. Once they are dry, you can store then on top of one another.
44 Comments
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Moms Dish
wow, love it
tatyana
Hi, love ur recipes…Wow the hard egg yolks did throw me off,,, but can’t wait to try this recipe. 🙂
Tina
I make same things and use wafers from Winco foods (the ones that are sold in the bulk section). They add taste to them and texture:)
lyudmila
Hi Olga
How far in advance these cookies can be made ? Can they be stored in a refrigerator for couple days prior to serving them ?
olgak7
They can be made up to a week in advance. Just store them in a covered container at room temperature.
Tatianna
Hi 🙂 I just love your website, I check in every day for new recipes 🙂 I was wondering, would it be ok to substitute raisins for cranberries?
olgak7
Thanks for the kind words, Tatyana! I wrote in the post that you can substitute the raisins for anything you like. Cranberries would be great.
Tatianna
Also, is it 1 inch or 1/2 inch balls? On the recipe pictures it says 1/2 and on the printout 1.
olgak7
Oops! It’s 1/2 Tablespoon.
Lilia
Love this recipe. My mother-in-law shared this recipe with me years back but she places broken up pieces of nuts in the middle.
Lilia
I really want to try it with the raisins now 🙂
olgak7
You can be very versatile with what you place in the center of the cookies. I use nuts most of the time too. Sometimes I even put both raisins and nuts together:).
lyudmila
Do you think it’s ok to freeze them ?
olgak7
I would not recommend freezing these cookies; I think they are too tender.
natasha
Hey Olga. Just made this cookies, always wanted a recepie, when tried them at the weddings 🙂
but the dough sticks to my hands too much… Reason? I think i had to put a little more flour. What do you think. 🙂
olgak7
I’ve never had it stick too much. I don’t think you should add more flour, the cookies will be too tough.
Iryna
I tried these wonderful cookies some 20 years ago and made them couple of times, but lost my recipe. Today is my son’s 16th birthday and I was looking for it on the net. Thank you for posting – I will make them later today.
Iryna
Addition. I made the cookies – with a prune and a piece of walnut inside, just like the ones I tried before. They were really good! Thank you
Mila
Olga, Do you think I can use dry coconut instead of the wafers?
lyudmila
Olga, Do you think I can use dry coconut instead of the wafers?
olgak7
lyudmila,
I’ve never personally done it, but I think it should work. I would recommend toasting the coconut first.
Oksana
Olga, these cookies are so delicious and soft. My hubby couldn’t get enough of them. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us, I’m defently adding it to my recipe collection. 🙂
olgak7
Thanks for letting me know, Oksana!
Nela
Just made these (we’re having company tomorrow) & fell in love, I did a knockoff version of ‘ferrero rocher’ chocolates that I love so much: hazelnut inside & coated with chopped walnuts. They turned out so yummy, thanks for such a great recipe!!!
olgak7
That’s a great idea, Nela. Hazelnuts are my favorite.
Marina Degler
Hello Olga,
Can I instead of glaze make chocolate ganache? Or it would be too thick?
Also, I do not have a KtchenAid mixer. Would you recommend to use a hand mixer or made them by hand?
Also, if dough will become to sticky, do you think it is ok to refregarate for a little?
Thank you
olgak7
I think it might be too thick, but I’ve never tried it myself. What I personally love about these cookies is how the thin glaze seeps into the cookies and makes them even softer and more succulent.
You can certainly mix the dough using a hand mixer.
I’ve never had the dough be too sticky, so I’m not sure what the issue might be.
Marina Degler
Thank you Olga for the reply,
I guess you are right about glaze seeping through the cookies. I didn’t think of that.
Just got so use to the ganach and couldn’t remember when last time I cooked a glaze.
About the dough, I think altitude , were you are ,making a difference in baking. Some recepies even adjusted to this matter.
Over all It is my favorite time of the year. I baking up the storm. Every year trying something new. Would love to try your cookies.
Thank you,
Happy Holliday!
olgak7
That’s awesome, Marina!
It’s a tradition of mine to bake a lot this time of year as well:).
Irina
Thank you Olga for a wonderful recipe! I now make them all the time and everybody tells me how wonderful they taste and I refer them to your site for the recipe 🙂 thank you for a great site!
olgak7
How awesome! Love to hear feedback like this. Thanks, Irina.
Tanya
I Love, Love, Love these Cookies. Easy to make and so yummy! I put dried cherry and walnut inside, then roll in crushed walnuts. Thank you for the recipe Olga!
olgak7
Yum! Dry cherries and walnuts? Sounds like a great combination. Thanks for taking the time to write, Tanya.
Christine
Could you please advise if the wafers you use for the coating have thin layers of cream ?
olgak7
Yes, they do, Christine.
Janine Meloy
Hi Olga, I was thinking of making the dough and freezing. Then thawing and continuing with recipe.
What are your thoughts.
Lena
Do you think canned cherry will work for the inside or it would be too wet?
olgak7
I haven’t tried it with cherries. They might be a little bit too big and too wet, but you can experiment and see how it turns out. I’d love to hear if you try it, Lena.
Lena
I’ve tried it with cherries and it worked good. I made sure they were drained well. The cookies did turn out a bit bigger but that’s ok.
olgak7
That’s great, Lena! Happy to hear that cherries work too.
Nata
Are the cookies supposed to still be soft when done baking? Mine feel like they’re still dough and not baked…went for the full 15 minutes of baking
olgak7
They are soft, but they should be baked through. It shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes unless they are bigger or your oven bakes slower or the temperature isn’t accurate. If you can’t tell if cookies are baked by looking at them and you want to be 100% sure, just break one open and see if they are baked through all the way.
Larisa G
Hi Olga, do you recommend roasting the nuts before putting them in the dough? I would use walnuts.
olgak7
I don’t think it will make a significant difference in the final product, but you can certainly do that.