Knysh

Knysh (Книш) is a small, round Ukrainian baked pastry from the Polissia and central regions of Ukraine, made from enriched yeasted dough wrapped or filled with a soft mixture of farmer cheese (syr), egg yolk, sugar and sometimes a little poppy seed or grated lemon zest. The dough is rolled out thin, cut into circles, topped or filled with the sweet cheese mixture, then folded and shaped into either a small flat round or an oval turnover with the filling sealed inside, brushed with egg wash and baked until deeply golden. The finished knysh is small enough to eat in two or three bites, with a soft pillowy crumb and a creamy, mildly sweet centre that contrasts with the crackling crust.

Knyshy are sold by bakery counters (pekarnia) across Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr, often as part of a tray of small sweet pastries alongside pampushky, vatrushky and pyshky. They are eaten warm, sometimes dusted with powdered sugar, and are a fixture of Sunday lunches, coffee gatherings and Christmas Eve tables in Ukrainian households.