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Peach Cookies {Pesche Con Crema / Персики}

Peach Cookies look like a peach, but really are two halves of soft cookie dough baked, then hollowed and stuffed with delicious Dulce de Leche filling. The irresistible exterior makes you fall in love with the cookie once, but after your first bite, you will fall in love all over again! These peach cookies always fly off the table and people beg for the recipe!

Three peach cookies in a white decorative bowl.

So what are Peach Cookies?

They are cookies that are baked as two separate halves, then the inside is hollowed out to make space for the filling. The filling typically consists of either dulce de leche, custard or peach jam and an almond. Only dulce de leche filling is traditional for Slavic recipes though.

Even though I thought they were traditional Russian and Ukrainian cookies, it seems that Italians have their own version of these Peach Cookies as well and they call them Pesche Con Crema (Peaches with Cream).

In Slavic culture, you will see them at weddings, birthdays, baby showers and any other kinds of celebrations. Unfortunately, very often, as excited as you are to bite into one, that excitement dissipates once you bite into the cookie, as the flavor is bland and the filling is barely there.
Not to worry though! I have made it my mission to make sure that my recipe does not give you that same experience.

Peach cookies in a green decorative bowl.What makes THIS recipe THE perfect Peach Cookie Recipe?

This recipe makes Peach Cookies that have a very delicious filling based on Dulce de Leche, which compliments the rather neutral flavor of the cookie itself wonderfully. No bland cookies over here.

The filling to cookie ratio is also perfect, it’s not too much and not too little.

I have also changed which the kind of sugar I use to coat the cookies in, from regular fine granulated sugar to sanding sugar.  This gives each Peach Cookie the look of a jewel, but also helps with preventing the sugar itself from melting away.

The way I store these cookies is also different – the method described below prevents the cookies from becoming soggy after being dipped in the coloring mixture.

Side view of peach cookies in a green decorative bowl.
The way I realized that these should not sit in a closed container, is by accidentally leaving one on the kitchen counter for a couple of hours and then when biting into it, discovering the outside to be perfectly dry and crunchy, while the inside was moist and delicious. I love happy accidents!

Close up of bitten peach cookie with other peach cookies in a green decorative bowl.

Try these other Cookie recipes:

Peach Cookies

4.67 from 9 votes

Peach Cookies look like a peach, but really are two halves of soft cookie dough baked, then hollowed and stuffed with delicious Dulce de Leche filling.

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian
Keyword: peach cookies
Calories: 204 kcal
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 30 servings

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 4 eggs
  • 250 ml vegetable/corn oil
  • 250 grams sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 500 grams flour approximately 4 cups (this will be added later)

Filling

Decorating

  • 1 cup sanding sugar
  • Red Orange or Peach Food Coloring
  • Mint Leaves

Instructions

How to make Peach Cookie Shells

  1. Mix together, 4 eggs, 250 grams sugar and 2 tsp vanilla sugar until combined.

  2. Add 250 ml oil, stir to combine. Add 4 Tbsp flour & 2 tsp baking powder. Mix thoroughly to combine. Let sit for 1 hour.

  3. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  4. After 1 hour, add 500 grams flour (about 4 cups) into the runny dough we prepared earlier and mix thoroughly.

  5. Take about a tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball and set onto parchment paper, about 1-2 inches apart. You can oil or water the hands to help with the dough sticking.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a pre-heated oven, at 350F. Cookies should remain white.
  7. Allow to cool on a cooling rack. Bake the rest of the cookies in the same manner.
  8. With a melon baller, remove the center of each cookie, to make room for the filling.

How to make the Dulce de Leche Filling

  1. With a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, whip 8 oz butter until white and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl throughout the process.

  2. Add 1 can condensed milk & 1 tsp vanilla extract and whip again, until well combined, about 1 minute.

  3. Fill a ziplock bag with the filling & snip the end.

Assembling the Peach Cookies

  1. Fill each half of the cookies with the filling, slightly overfilling, to allow for the two halves to stick together.
  2. Put sprinkling sugar into a bowl.
  3. Fill 2 bowls or cups with 1 cup of water each. Add red food coloring to one cup, and yellow/peach/orange food coloring to the other. Stir, to make sure the food coloring dissolves.
  4. Quickly dip each cookie, into the yellow ‘cup’ and then only half of the cookie into the red cup, to make them resemble a peach.
  5. Roll in the sprinkling sugar. Place on the tray.
  6. Allow to sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. This will allow for the moisture to redistribute evenly throughout the cookie, while allowing the outside to dry. Do not leave in a closed container, or the cookies will become soggy.
  7. Right before you serve the cookies, insert the hearts of mint, to make them look like real leaves from peach trees.
Nutrition Facts
Peach Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 204 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 21mg7%
Sodium 9mg0%
Potassium 59mg2%
Carbohydrates 28g9%
Sugar 15g17%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 30IU1%
Calcium 20mg2%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • angela

    Hi! i meausred the ingrediants with a scale but noticed that 250ml of oil measures more on scale than the measuring cup, and the cookies dont stay in a ball form but sorta melt before i even bake them, is that normal?

    · Reply
    • Yes, that is normal. If they stayed in a ball shape you would have two balls once baked, but we are looking for half spheres, so they flatten out and then bake into half spheres .

      · Reply
      • angela

        oops I didnt mean to put 2 stars!! For some reason the first half baked flat and the second half more rounder. I had to make a second batch with less oil, seems like if the dough sits longer it bakes better.

        · Reply
  • Debbie

    Can these cookies be frozen?

    · Reply
  • Anna

    What kind of food coloring did you use? I used like the regular food dye and the color was very light. Could it have been that I accidentally let the cookies brown a bit it the oven, is that why? ( by the way really love your website❤️)

    · Reply
    • Hi Anna,
      Yes, the cookies should not have any color on them coming out of the oven, then, you can adjust the coloring liquid with more or less food coloring by dipping one peach and seeing if you’re happy with the coloring.

      · Reply
      • Anna

        Thank you!

        · Reply
  • Irina

    Hi, I had a question on storage since you mentioned they get soggy. How do I store these if I need to make them two days in advance? Thank you!

    · Reply
    • Hi Irina,
      I have found that storing them in an open to air container helps to best prevent the outside from getting soggy. So whether you keep them in the fridge or on the counter, just don’t close the container.

      If you’re making these 2 days ahead, I would just keep them in the fridge, but not in a closed container.

      · Reply
      • Irina

        Thanks so much!

        · Reply
  • Linda Szymoniak

    What size can of sweetened condensed milk?

    · Reply
  • Anita Kilgore

    Can you freeze the peach cookies or how long will they keep in the refrigerator?

    · Reply
    • I haven’t done it myself, but don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I would wrap them tightly or keep in an airtight container and probably wouldn’t freeze them for more than a month.

      · Reply
  • Irina

    Thank you for the recipe. I made them a few days ago they taste amazing but for some reason even when I used teaspoon to roll balls when they baked they became huge( I don’t know maybe I didn’t had enough flour? And also when I dipped them into coloring they got very soggy I didn’t close the container even after a few days they still were soggy! Is there any advice you can give me how to improve them?

    · Reply
    • Tip
      Inna

      Hi Irina,
      I see your comment was posted a while back…
      I learned a tip on YouTube to help with the sogginess. After dipping them in the food coloring I set them on a paper towel for a minute or so. This soaks up excess liquid and my sugar doesn’t become all wet and clumpy. alsobi had issues with them being too big too. I scoop out exactly one tablespoon and roll it into a ball. Then use a sharp knife to score and cut right down the middle. Perfectly shaped halfs.

      · Reply
      • The paper towel tip is great, I actually do that myself now too.

        Although, in the original poster’s question I think she didn’t add enough flour as evidenced by too drastic of a rise in the oven, and then absorption of too much liquid when dipped.

        I think weighing the ingredients would help with adding the right amount of flour.

        · Reply
  • Laura

    These cookies look BEAUTIFUL! I can’t wait to make them and surprise my friends with this gorgeous treat!

    · Reply
    • They look very festive in Holiday cookie baskets too 😉 Thanks for your comment Laura!

      · Reply
  • Tanya

    These look delicious!!
    Im just wondering what is sprinkling sugar? is it regular sugar? thanks for reply in advance

    · Reply
    • Hi Tanya,
      thank you! Sprinkling sure is usually larger granules than regular sugar and sometimes it comes in different colors. It’s what you would sprinkle on cupcakes or sugar cookies. At the bottom of the post you will see an amazon link to the kind of sanding/sprinkling sugar I used 🙂

      · Reply
  • Carol

    These cookies are beautiful, and I look forward to making them. I love your website- you always have the best recipes -always! And the pictures are helpful and beautiful .I love the fact that we get to know you, as well. You are fantastic.

    · Reply
    • Oh Carol! Thank you so much for such your wonderful comment! You just made my day!

      · Reply
  • peggy

    so pretty

    · Reply
  • foodienewz

    Your food photos are amazing. You can share your mouth watering photos with us at http://www.foodienewz.com. foodienewz.com is a new food sharing site and we actually try our best to promote your food photos. At foodienewz.com all your food photos will be published without any editorial review so I really hope you come and join us.

    · Reply
    • Thanks so much for your comment, I will take a look 🙂

      · Reply
  • Sylva Smith

    Any chance you could get these to taste peachy? Like with peach schnaps maybe?

    · Reply
    • I guess you could soak the outside with some diluted peach liquor and add peach essense to a whip cream and creamcheese frosting…. But that’s just an idea, I haven’t done it 🙂

      · Reply
  • anna

    I was wondering what degrees you put them on? I put mine on 350 farenheit.

    · Reply
    • Yeah, I bake mine at 350 as well. Just added that to the post 🙂 Thanks for your comment!

      · Reply
  • Lea @ Lea's Cooking

    Love peach cookies. Your pictures are perfect 🙂

    · Reply
  • foodie@foodieportal.com

    I love your pictures and recipes. I’d like to inform you of a great new website http://www.foodieportal.com. I would like to invite you to come and join us and share your wonderful pictures with us. We are simply foodies and we are not photography snobs, so picture perfection is not important, all we care about is delicious food. We’re pretty new so give us a chance. 🙂

    · Reply
  • Julia | JuliasAlbum.com

    These are so pretty! I made those too and have a recipe on my blog, too! You’ve got to love “persiki”! 🙂 Pinned!

    · Reply
    • I am going to go and check them out 😉

      · Reply
      • Julia | JuliasAlbum.com

        Yes, I did use natural coloring (beets and carrots) which worked perfectly! I didn’t have time to go to the store to buy the actual food coloring, LOL.

        · Reply
        • I really like that idea, I might experiment with it next time. Did it give the cookies any flavor at all?
          as far as for me, I am stocked on things some people don’t even know exist lol, I think I might have a slight hoarding obsession when it comes to cooking/baking/kitchen supplies lol

          · Reply

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