Cream Cheese Kolacky

These Cream Cheese Kolacky are the kind of old-fashioned holiday cookie that disappears from the platter before everything else. The pastry is tender, buttery, and lightly flaky, with a subtle tang from cream cheese and a bright little pocket of fruit preserves in the center. A dusting of confectioners’ sugar gives them that classic snowy finish without making the dough itself overly sweet.

What makes this collected recipe such a keeper is its beautifully simple three-ingredient pastry dough. Giving the dough a long chill makes it much easier to roll and helps the cookies hold their delicate folded shape in the oven. Thick apricot, raspberry, peach, cherry, cranberry, or date filling all work beautifully. I especially appreciate recipes like this during the holidays because the dough can be made the night before, leaving only rolling, filling, and baking for the next day.

The biggest trick is restraint with the filling. About ½ tsp per cookie is plenty; too much jam can bubble out before the pastry finishes baking. These are wonderful for Christmas cookie trays, gifting, or serving alongside coffee after a holiday meal.

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Ingredients

Cream Cheese Dough

3 oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

Filling and Finish

½ cup thick fruit jam or preserves, such as apricot, raspberry, peach, cherry, cranberry, or date

⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Make the dough. Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth. Gradually mix in the flour just until a soft dough forms. Avoid overmixing.
2. Chill thoroughly. Shape the dough into a ball, cover tightly, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. The dough needs to be cold before rolling.
3. Preheat the oven. Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.
4. Roll and cut. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll the chilled dough to about ⅛-inch thickness. Cut it into approximately 2½-inch squares.
5. Add the filling. Spoon about ½ tsp thick jam into the center of each square. Resist adding extra; overfilled kolacky are much more likely to leak.
6. Shape the cookies. Bring two opposite corners toward the center, overlap them slightly, and pinch firmly to seal. Transfer the cookies to the baking sheets.
7. Bake. Bake at 180°C / 350°F for 10-12 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly golden around the edges.
8. Cool and finish. Transfer the kolacky to wire racks and let them cool completely. Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Cooking Notes

Keep the dough well chilled. If it becomes sticky or difficult to shape while rolling, refrigerate it for 10-15 minutes before continuing.

Choose thick preserves or pastry filling rather than a loose, syrupy jam. Thin fillings spread and leak more easily during baking.

Do not exceed about ½ tsp filling per cookie. A modest amount gives you a better fruit-to-pastry balance and helps the folded corners stay closed.

Pinch the overlapping corners firmly. If they repeatedly open during baking, a tiny dab of water between the overlapping dough can help them adhere.

Apricot and raspberry are classics, but cherry preserves and cranberry marmalade make particularly festive holiday variations.

Nutrition

Yields: 30 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

The finished batch yields approximately 2½ dozen small pastries. Because these are individual dessert cookies rather than a main dish or side, one kolacky is an appropriate nutrition serving. Actual values will vary most significantly with the type and brand of preserves used.

Estimated Nutrition per Serving

• Calories: 72 kcal
• Fat: 4.0 g
• Carb: 8.0 g
• Protein: 1.0 g

Recipe Science

Cream cheese kolacky use a high-fat, low-moisture pastry dough made primarily from flour, butter, and cream cheese. Unlike yeast-raised kolache, this version relies on fat for tenderness rather than fermentation or chemical leavening. The fruit filling supplies most of the sweetness, while confectioners’ sugar provides the final sweet finish.

Cold dough is important to the finished texture. Chilling allows the butter and cream cheese fats to firm while the flour fully hydrates. During baking, the fat melts as the dough structure sets, producing a tender pastry. A thick preserve is preferable because it contains less free-flowing moisture and is less likely to escape the folded dough. The short 10-12 minute baking period is generally sufficient for these thin pastries.

Kolacky can be prepared efficiently for holiday baking because the dough can chill overnight. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container, separating layers if necessary. The recipe is also easy to vary simply by changing the fruit filling.

Dietary Notes & Health Alerts: Based on the provided nutrition information, one cookie contains approximately 3 g saturated fat and 32 mg sodium. Neither reaches the FDA’s 20% Daily Value threshold for a nutrient considered “high.” The FDA Daily Values are 20 g saturated fat, 2,300 mg sodium, and 50 g added sugar; 20% DV or more per serving is considered high. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) The precise added sugar content cannot be calculated without the nutrition label for the specific jam or preserves used, so it should not be classified as high or low from the ingredient list alone.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Exceptionally Tender Dough: Cream cheese and butter create a delicate pastry that practically melts when you bite into it.
• Only Three Ingredients in the Dough: Flour, butter, and cream cheese keep the base wonderfully straightforward.
• Make-Ahead Friendly: Prepare the dough the night before and roll, fill, and bake when you’re ready.
• Endlessly Customizable: Use apricot, raspberry, peach, cherry, cranberry, date, or another favorite thick preserve.
• Holiday-Tray Favorite: The colorful fruit centers and confectioners’ sugar finish make these little pastries especially pretty for Christmas.

FAQ

• Can I make kolacky dough overnight? Yes. In fact, overnight refrigeration works very well. Keep the dough tightly covered so it does not dry out.
• Why did my kolacky open while baking? The corners probably were not pinched firmly enough, or the dough became too warm. Work with chilled dough and securely overlap and pinch the opposite corners.
• Why is the jam leaking out? Too much filling or a thin jam is usually responsible. Use thick preserves or pastry filling and limit each cookie to about ½ tsp.
• Can I use different fillings in one batch? Absolutely. Divide the cookies among several preserves to create an assorted holiday tray without changing the dough.
• When should I add the confectioners’ sugar? Wait until the kolacky are completely cool. For the prettiest appearance, dust them shortly before serving.

Conclusion

There is something especially comforting about a simple, time-tested holiday pastry, and these cream cheese kolacky earn their place on the cookie tray year after year. Change the preserves, adjust the assortment, and make the tradition your own; that’s part of the joy of home baking.

What fruit filling would disappear first at your house: apricot, raspberry, cherry, or something completely different? Happy baking, friends!