Kolacky are gentle, flaky cream cheese pastries with a candy strawberry cheesecake-inspired filling. They’re tremendous straightforward to customise together with your favourite fruit jam and look superb on a Christmas cookie plate!
For those who love this do-it-yourself kolacky recipe, strive extra conventional treats like pignoli cookies, coconut baklava, and my household’s favourite Macedonian shortbread cookies.
These cute kolacky may look lots like cookies, however they’re truly constituted of pastry dough stuffed with candy cream cheese and strawberry jam. Kolacky, or kolache (additionally spelled kołaczki in Polish), is a back-from-home recipe that I grew up with. I’ve made so many variations of those cookie-ish treats that I’ve misplaced rely, however this strawberry cheesecake-inspired model is my favourite. And despite the fact that they aren’t technically cookies, cream cheese kolacky isn’t amiss on our Christmas cookie platters!
Why I Love This Cream Cheese Kolacky Recipe
- A twist on a basic. Whereas conventional kolacky cookies are stuffed with solely jam, I fill mine with a mix of candy cream cheese and strawberry jam. It tastes similar to strawberry cheesecake!
- Easy dough. The dough wants simply three components: cream cheese, butter, and flour, and it’s very straightforward to make. It actually comes right down to chilling to get a superbly puffed, delicate pastry.
- Any event. In my circles, nothing sweetens up an event or get-together like a plate of do-it-yourself kolacky (with a facet of eggnog latte!). I make these delicate pastry cookies go hand in hand with holidays and celebrations like child showers, wedding ceremony showers, and birthdays.
What You’ll Want
This kolacky recipe makes use of a easy cream cheese dough constituted of pantry staples. I’ve included some notes on what you’ll want, and make sure to scroll to the recipe card for the printable record with the total recipe quantities and particulars.
- Cream Cheese – Softened to room temperature, for the pastry dough and the filling. Use full-fat cream cheese that is available in bricks, and never the bagel unfold type.
- Butter – Two sticks of unsalted butter, additionally delivered to room temperature.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is the only option right here.
- Powdered Sugar – Additionally known as confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar.
- Vanilla – For the very best taste, I like to recommend actual vanilla extract.
- Filling – I take advantage of strawberry jam, however you may fill the kolacky with any sort of jam or fruit preserves you’d like. Different widespread fillings for kolache are peach jam, apricot, raspberry, strawberry, or cherry preserves. You can even fill them with marmalade, Nutella, or chocolate unfold.
How one can Make Kolacky
These kolacky cookies require just a bit little bit of kitchen ability. For those who comply with the recipe as written, you’re certain to come back out on prime. Listed here are the steps:
Make the Dough
You’ll begin by making a fast cream cheese pastry dough. You’ll want to relax the dough afterward in order that it holds its form once you fill and fold it:
- Make the dough. Begin by beating cream cheese and butter till that’s gentle and fluffy. Then, add within the flour and a pinch of salt, and blend to mix.
- Portion and chill the dough. Flip the dough out on a clear floor dusted with powdered sugar. Divide the dough into 4 rounds, and flatten every portion right into a disc. Wrap every dough disc in plastic wrap and place them into the fridge to relax for half-hour.
Ideas and Variations
- Chill the dough. This dough is superb, nevertheless it’s additionally a diva. For those who don’t chill it, it WILL collapse. You should definitely refrigerate the dough earlier than you roll it out and once more earlier than baking the pastries.
- Completely different fillings. Use whichever jam or preserves you could have available. For a extra genuine kolacky, you may skip the cream cheese filling and use solely jam.
- Don’t overfill. With regards to fillings, watch out to not go overboard. Utilizing an excessive amount of filling makes these cookies soggy.
- Make the dough forward. Understand that you may make the dough hours forward of time or freeze it. Then, all that’s left to do is thaw it out, roll the dough, reduce it into small squares, and prepare the filling within the heart of the squares. And bake, in fact.
Serving Ideas
Kolacky are a beautiful Christmas deal with, and so they’re even higher when paired with one thing festive! Serve them with a comfy mug of darkish scorching chocolate or my creamy do-it-yourself eggnog to maintain issues heat and merry. For those who’re within the temper for one thing boozy with a tropical twist, my coconut mojito is a dang good choice!
How one can Retailer
- Refrigerate. Kolacky tends to get a bit soggy at room temperature. To maintain these cookies contemporary, retailer them in an hermetic container within the fridge.
- Freeze. You can even freeze the baked cookies for as much as 3 months. Thaw them within the fridge earlier than serving.
Extra Christmas Cookie Recipes
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Beat the cream cheese and butter. In your mixer’s bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter till clean, gentle, and fluffy.
Add the dry components. Add the flour and salt and proceed to combine till completely included.
Form the dough. Flippantly mud your work space with powdered sugar. Switch the dough to the work space and form it right into a ball.
Chill. Divide the dough into 4 rounds; flatten every spherical and canopy every spherical of dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for half-hour.
Make the cheesecake filling. Within the meantime, put together the filling by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in your mixer’s bowl. Beat till creamy and clean. Set it apart.
Roll and reduce the dough. Mud your work space with flour. Take away the dough from the fridge and let it relaxation for five minutes. Afterward, roll out every ball of dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Then, reduce it into 3×3 squares.
Add the fillings. Fill the middle of every sq. with 1/2 teaspoon cream cheese combination and 1/2 teaspoon strawberry jam. For a prettier presentation, utilizing a pastry bag, you may pipe the fillings, one subsequent to the opposite or one over the opposite.
Fold. Overlap reverse corners of the dough to the middle and over the filling. Pinch the seams collectively. Refrigerate the cookies for 1 hour.
Bake. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Take away the cookies from the fridge and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes or till the sides are browned. Take away from the oven and funky fully.
- Cream Cheese: This recipe works finest with full-fat cream cheese. Be certain that it’s softened earlier than you begin to work with it.
- Butter: Use two sticks of softened unsalted butter. That’s 16 tablespoons or 226 grams of butter.
- Jam Filling: You should use no matter jam or preserves you could have available. Actually, for a extra genuine kolacky, you don’t even should make the cream cheese filling – simply use the jam.
- Don’t skip the refrigeration time earlier than rolling out the dough AND earlier than baking the pastries.
- Retailer the pastries in hermetic containers and maintain them refrigerated. You can even freeze the cookies for as much as 3 months. I recommend freezing them stuffed however not baked. If you want them, you may thaw them on the counter after which bake them as wanted.
Serving: 1cookie | Energy: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fats: 13g | Saturated Fats: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 3g | Trans Fats: 0.3g | Ldl cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 101mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 452IU | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Dietary data is an estimate and offered as courtesy. Values might range in response to the components and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed data.
