Warning!! You will not be able to eat just one of these Polish Cream Cheese Cookies (Kolaczki cookies)!
These little Polish Cream Cheese Cookies or Kolaczki are sooo good! I really could not resist going in for seconds, thirds, fourths….. You get the picture! Yes! I ate an embarrassing amount of cookies!
Mom was feeling a little nostalgic with Christmas quickly approaching and decided to bake up some memories. Grammy and Grampa have been gone for a couple years now and we lost Dad just before Christmas last year.
We miss them dearly and it can be a little difficult this time of year especially. One thing that always makes me feel like they are still with us are when we cook the foods they loved.
I don’t remember Grammy ever making these exact cookies but she certainly made similar ones. She definitely would have loved these Kolaczki though and would be proud that we were Celebrating Our Heritage.
Mom Made these Polish Cream Cheese Cookies last week and we had them wiped out in record time!
They are kind of a cross between a pastry and a cookie. The dough is made of a cream cheese/ butter mixture and has a nice flaky texture like pie crust.
You can fill them with just about anything but Mom used an assortment of jams. Raspberry, apricot, blueberry and orange marmalade. Once they are cooled they are dusted with powdered sugar and devoured!
Polish Cream Cheese Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 (8 ounce package) Cream Cheese
- 3 Sticks Unsalted butter ,softend
- 3 Cups All-purpose flour
- 3 (8 ounce jars) Assorted jellys
- 1/2 Cup + more for dusting Confectioner Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until light and fluffy. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, and mix well. Divide dough into quarters. Wrap each quartered dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick on a silicone mat or a surface that has been dusted with equal parts confectioners' and granulated sugars (not flour), Mom just used granulated sugar.
- Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut dough into 2-inch squares. Place 1/2 to 1 teaspoon filling on center of each square. Overlap opposite corners of dough to the center over filling, pressing dough together to seal. ( Brush a tiny bit of beaten egg white on the dough where you want it to stick together to help it stick better. This will help prevent it from unsticking during baking)
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or when corners start to brown. Cool completely and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Eastern European Food.
Polish Cream Cheese Cookies traditionally served at Christmas and Easter.
Bake up a batch of Kolaczki for the holidays this year and watch them disappear!
Here are some of my other favorite Christmas Cookie recipes for you to try!
I must admit I was surprised you kept going back to the plate for more. As did your son! They are very tasty and I likee the fact that I was able to bake half of the recipe and the other half the next day by quartering and wrapping the dough and placing in Refrigerator.
I couldn’t help myself! They were just too good!
Are you related to Betty? I have her cookbooks!
Ha ha! I wish I was! Unfortunately I’m not. I have many of her cookbooks as well! That lady could cook!
they can also be made easier by simply making a round ball (smal) and putting hole in the middle, filling it and powder sugar it.
Baked today, serving tomorrow Christmas Eve…..any leftovers will be served again on Christmas Day….but, wondering if I should store them in the refrigerator or in an airtight container at room temperature?
(I read your note about not freezing the baked ones, thank you!)
We kept ours in an airtight container and were fine. They were a little less flaky a few days later but still delicious. They should definitely still be great for tomorrow and Christmas Day. I would wait to dust them with the sugar until just before serving. Merry Christmas! Enjoy!
I see that these made your top ten list for 2016, I can understand why. great cookie!
This is the best of the best cookies, I love it and my family too, thank you for sharing
So glad you all liked them Lorena!
They taste great!!! My time making them. What can I do with the rest of the filling??
Thank you
Most jams and jelly can keep for some time in the fridge but if you want to use it up right away another one of my favorite jam filled cookie recipes are Thumbprint cookies. They are totally addicting and they will disappear as quickly as you put them out. Here is the link to my Lemon Curd Thumbprint cookies. You can substitute the lemon curd for any type of jelly or jam. https://www.familytabletreasures.com/2015/08/lemon-curd-thumbprint-cookies/
Not only do I love these cookies (we filled them with a ground walnut mixture) but i’m Grammy and my husband is Grampa! Don’t know too many with those exact names!
Ground walnuts…That sounds delicious, Grammy! 😉
Lol… I am Grammy and my husband is Grampy…can sometimes be changed to grumpy
Hi Nicole. I remember loving kolaczki while I was growing up and would like to make these. Since I can’t have gluten anymore, could the recipe be adapted to be gluten free? If so, what changes would have to be made?
Hi Sharon, I haven’t tried this recipe in a gluten free version yet so I’m not really sure how it would work. You could always try swapping out with a gluten free premixed flour. I would try a 1 to 1 ratio gluten free flour like Bob’s Red Mill. Let me know how it works out if you decide to try it. Thanks.
Hi Nicole I made these using Pamela’s Gluten Free Bread Mix as the substitute. Turned out awesome. Family can’t tell the difference! I also made Nut Rolls and Poppyseed Rolls with the same substitute with yeast and they turn out perfect! Enjoy!
That’s great Val! Gluten Free Substitute mixes have come a long way haven’t they? It really makes it so much easier to duplicate loved recipes as Gluten Free. Thanks for sharing!
My neighbor in Kansas used to make these ever Christmas. So good! Glad I found a recipe! Thanks!
Glad you found the recipe too! Enjoy!
My mom used to make these! I’m not sure it’s the exact recipe, but these sound phenomenal and I cannot wait to make them and surprise my sisters with them this year on the Christmas cookie table! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
What a great surprise! These cookies are one of my favorites. I could eat the whole batch! I hope they bring back some found memories this Christmas for you and your family.
Mine didn’t stay closed not one😞 but the flavor was really good☺
I’m sorry to hear that Marda…I know it can be tricky. I just made them again last week and did not have a problem but you really need to give the dough a good pinch together otherwise they will open during baking. Adding a bit of water to the spot you sealed together does help as well. The first time I made them I had issues getting them to stay together but I’ve gotten the hang of it after making them so many times. At some point I will make a video to help since it’s such a popular recipe. You’re right they are ridiculously delicious. I brought them to a party last week and everyone ate every last one!
Hi there ! I like many others had a lot break apart but some stayed- I also had to cook mine for a lot longer to get the brown on the edges but this is going to be a new fav I can already tell!! I have until Christmas to nail these things and I am determined to do so 🙂 thank you!!
Hi Kaitlyn, Keeping them together while they bake can definitely be a problem. I’ve gotten the best results by bringing the two corners together and pinching them together and then folding it over to one side. Also getting the right filling ratio correct can help. If they are over stuffed they will be more likely to open…but you also want to make sure there’s enough filling. lol! But you are correct…nothing beats the flavor in these cookies so hopefully you master them before the big day! Keep me posted on how you make out and feel free to leave any tips on what worked for you!
I left my doughnut the fridge overnight..how long before I can roll the dough. It feels very hard. My first attempt at baking them. Help Merry Christmas from a Pittsburgh born and raised girl!
Hi Gail..Sorry, I was away from my computer over the holiday. I’m assuming you got your cookies made by now.I just made these again about a week ago and had left the dough in the fridge for a couple days. It took about 10 minutes for it to soften enough for me do roll it out. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and were able to enjoy some delicious Polish Cream Cheese Cookies!
My mother made these for me and my sister, and she could never quantify the elements of her recipes, which were all in her head. Now I’ve got your recipe, and I hate to admit it, but they’re better than Mom’s. Thank you!
Thanks Stephen! I won’t tell! lol….glad they brought back some found memories!
Hey everyone, try doing it with Almond Flour, nice almond flaky flavor. I do add a little cane sugar to the dough. It’s better , as well as vanilla extract. It taste to unbelievable!
my family loved these
I’m so glad everyone loved them Rhonda! Thanks for taking the time to comment! Definitely one of our family favorites!
Preheating the oven should be step 2, not step 1. It doesnt need to preheat for an hour while the dough is in the fridge for the hour.
The ingredientclist really should list both sugars from step 3.
Can you use preserves instead of jam
Hi Karen, Yes, preserves can be used in place of jam. It will just provide a chunkier texture.
doing cookie research and i found these….my neighbor growing up made a similar version but we called them italian pineapple cookies..the only thing different is she used 4 sticks butter and 3.5 cups flour..rolled the dough out on just granulated sugar and when filling put the dab in center and seam side down..only used pineapple and walnut but im sure any can be tried….omg…lol i have seen these in recipes before and thought they were similar but now i know our were called italian but they are polish lol….interesting…thanks for sharing!