Traditional Bear Paws

7. 10. 2025

You can prepare bear paws according to this traditional recipe. You won’t go wrong with this one.

Bake these cookies four weeks before Christmas—they must soften by Christmas. Store them in a box in a cool place.

Ingredients:

• 1 Stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup walnuts (or blanched almonds or hazelnuts)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest freshly ground
• 1 teaspoon dark cocoa powder unsweetened
• 3 cloves spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

• Before you start, grind 1 cup of walnuts, finely crush 3 cloves, and grate 1 teaspoon of lemon zest from a carefully washed or organic lemon.
• Put the ground nuts, 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon dark cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, the rest of the prepared spices, 1 Stick unsalted butter cut into small pieces, and 1 egg yolk into a bowl.
• Work the ingredients into a smooth dough. Be patient; this may take a little time. It’s better to do this by hand – hands yield the best dough.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least two hours to rest. Leaving the dough in the refrigerator overnight is even better if you have time.
• Prepare the molds: Grease each with butter and dust with flour. Gently tap the greased mold on the table to remove any excess flour.
• Take the rested dough from the fridge and let it sit on the kitchen counter for about ten minutes.
• Scoop equally sized pieces of dough and press them into the prepared molds.
• Transfer the filled molds to a baking sheet and bake them in a preheated oven at 350 °F for 10 minutes.
• Let the baked pracny cookies cool almost completely before unmolding.
• Hold the mold by the edge, turn it upside down, and gently tap it on the surface of the kitchen counter.
• Immediately coat the cookies in 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Also, watch the video recipe for Pracny with cinnamon:

During Christmas, the tradition of baking dark Bear Paw cookies with cocoa and nuts is long-standing.

But consider embracing the golden gluten-free Coconut Bear Paws.

Rolling them in a mixture of sugar and vanilla powder or in grated coconut while still hot will make them absolutely divine!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of gluten-free flour (Almond, Buckwheat, Sorghum, Amaranth, etc.)
• 1/2 cup of finely grated coconut
• 1/2 cup of icing sugar
• 1 cup vegan butter (plant-based)
• 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan or guar
• homemade vanilla sugar (mix of caster sugar and vanilla powder)

Method:

• Make a dough from all the ingredients.
• Leave the dough to rest in the cold for at least 2 hours.
• Then, fill the bear paw molds with the dough.
• Bake at 320°F for about 10 minutes.
• Leave the baked cookies to cool briefly and carefully knock them out of the molds.
• Roll them in vanilla sugar or coconut when still hot.

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