Kolaczki (polish-filled cookies) are popular in Poland, as well as Denmark, Austria, Russia, The Czech Republic, and maybe other countries. As you would think, there are other names for this dessert, but the Polish word is kolaczki.
There is nothing better than an easy cookie that looks incredibly elegant and festive during the holidays. People are always looking for time-saving recipes that don’t call for a lot of ingredients. These Kolaczki cookies fit the bill perfectly.
Get ready to learn to bake some epic kolaczki cookies today from the recipe for kolaczki.
What are Kolaczki Cookies?
Kolaczki is standard fare at Christmas time in Poland and is called several names (surely Americanized over the years) including Kolacky, Kolachy Cookies, and Polish Cookies.
They are simple cookies that feature a lovely, flaky pastry made with only four ingredients. The filling is commonly jam or jellies, which we’re using here today.
There is really no limit to the flavors you can put in these little Polish Christmas cookies but you’ll want to select a jam that is nice and thick so the filling doesn’t run out of the cookie while baking.1https://www.momontimeout.com/kolaczki-polish-cookies/
Nutritional Information of Kolaczki – 20 Servings
- Calories: 354
- Total Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Cholesterol: 57mg
- Sodium: 154mg
- Total Carbohydrate: 46g
- Dietary Fiber: 1g
- Total Sugars: 28g
- Protein: 3g
- Vitamin C: 1mg
- Calcium: 22mg
- Iron: 1mg
- Potassium: 54mg
Recipe for Kolaczki
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 5mins
- Cook Time: 45mins
- Total Time: 1 hour, 50mins
- Yield: 5 dozen
Equipment & Kitchen Utensils Used: Airtight container, plastic wrap, saucepan, immersion blender or food processor, kitchen table, fluted pastry cutter, medium bowl, cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, wire or cooling rack, measuring cups, oven, and refrigerator.
Ingredients
8 ounces of cream cheese which are softened and you’ll want to use full-fat cream cheese for this recipe.
- 1½ cups of butter: Recommended is unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3 cups of flour – All-purpose flour
- Half a teaspoon of salt for flavor
- 1 – 1½ cups of filling, such as fruit preserves or jam, nut or poppy seed filling
- Almond extract or other extracts can be used if you prefer.
- Water to seal pastry dough
- Powdered sugar for rolling dough and dusting on finished cookies.
How To Make Kolaczki
This dough does need to be chilled before baking so keep that in mind as you are planning for this recipe.2https://owlbbaking.com/kolaczki/ Let’s take a look at how to make these lovely cookies:
Prepare the Cookie Dough
- Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the salt and flour in 3 additions, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Form it into a ball, flatten it down into a square shape, and wrap it with plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle a clean work surface and a rolling pin with powdered sugar. Divide the dough in half and roll it into a large square, ¼-inch thick.
- Trim the edges with a pizza cutter. Cut into 2½-inch squares. (Re-roll the scraps to cut more cookies).
Fold and Bake the Polish Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Transfer the squares to the prepared baking sheets.
- Spoon ½ teaspoon of jam in the middle of each square.
- Cross one corner of the pastry square over the jam filling.
- Rub a small drop of water on the corner of the pastry square and then seal the cookie by overlapping it with the opposite pastry square corner. Carefully pinch the dough to seal it with your thumb and index finger.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are just slightly golden.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack after 3 minutes to cool completely.
- Sprinkle them with powdered sugar before serving and enjoy!
Making Your Own Fruit Filling
- To make your own fruit filling, combine ¾ cup of dried apricots (or other dried fruit), 1½ cups of water, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in a saucepan.
- Simmer until the fruit is tender, approximately 15 minutes, cool, and mash or purée with an immersion blender or food processor.
Recipe Notes - Tips for Preparing
- While baking the Kolaczki: The hard part will be getting the kolaczki to stay folded over while baking. You did be surprised by how stubbornly many of the Kołaczki opened up like blooming flowers while baking. To prevent this, do the following:
- Make sure the dough is no thicker than a quarter inch.
- Dot one of the corners with water and press it into the opposite corner.
- Then fold the points over.
- For the Kołaczki Fillings: People love the variety of color options with fruit preserves and jams. The jewel tones add such appeal to a tray of cookies. You can make your fillings. Solo fillings work well, but they’ve become increasingly hard to find. You can prepare a nut filling; it takes very little time and tastes great
- Be sure to roll the Kolaczki dough to one-quarter inch thickness and be sure the pastry is sealed tightly before baking. Dough that is too thick will expand and open as the cookies bake in the oven and you will be left with undercooked squares of pastry oozing with jam. Not good.
- Make the dough and fill the cookies ahead of time. Freeze on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- If you don’t want to use jam you can use Solo brand pastry fillings. Keep jam in the middle of the square so that it doesn’t drip out of the pastry when baking. It is recommended that jarred or canned cake and pastry filling—like the Solo brand— be used for this recipe, as any fresh fruit filling will have a tendency to leak out of the cookie when baking.
- It's not recommended, however, to freeze kołaczki after the cookies have been baked. When defrosted, they become soggy and unpalatable.
- You can also freeze any leftover filling in a zip-close bag or another container, with little loss in flavor or consistency. Just defrost when you're ready to use. Pour off any accumulated moisture on the surface, stir, and it should be ready to go
- Feel free to experiment with extracts for different flavors of Kolaczki. Vanilla, orange, or lemon zest would all be great additions to try
Storage Information of Kolaczki
These Polish Kolaczki cookies can be stored in an airtight container on the kitchen counter for up to 3 days. They do start to get soggy and the jam separates after a few days so the texture really is best the day they are made or 1 to 2 days after.
To Freeze: These cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Bake and cool cookies. Do not dust with powdered sugar. Transfer to a freezer-safe, airtight container and line each layer with parchment before stacking.
Thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Kołaczki - A Rich Pastry with Fruit Fillings
Kolaczki (Polish Cookies) are the perfect tea-time treat and lovely addition to a Christmas cookie plate. The delicious flaky pastry comes together with 4 simple ingredients and pairs beautifully with sweet and tart jewel-toned, jam fillings3https://polishhousewife.com/kolaczki/. A sprinkle of powdered sugar makes these cookies a show-stopper!
With just 6 ingredients total, these cookies are a breeze to make and are sure to be a crowd-pleaser this holiday season. With sweet, sparkly jam peaking out from underneath the folds, these cookies are a delight to behold as well as to eat.
People of course love these cookies for Christmas and also because they are a must-make for Easter and other holidays as well. They are just incredibly easy to make and are just so pretty and delicious!
Print
Kolaczki | Get The Complete Recipe to Make These Polish-Filled Cookies Right in the Comforts of Your Home (with Pics & Video Tutorial)
There is really no limit to the flavors you can put in these little Polish Christmas cookies but you’ll want to select a jam that is nice and thick so the filling doesn’t run out of the cookie while baking.
- Total Time: 1hr, 50mins
- Yield: 5 Dozen 1x
Ingredients
- 8 ounces of cream cheese which is softened and you’ll want to use full-fat cream cheese for this recipe.
- 1½ cups of butter: Recommended is unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3 cups of flour – All-purpose flour
- Half a teaspoon of salt for flavor
- 1 – 1½ cups of filling, such as fruit preserves or jam, nut or poppy seed filling
- Almond extract or other extracts can be used if you prefer.
- Water to seal pastry dough
- Powdered sugar for rolling dough and dusting on finished cookies.
Instructions
- Cream the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy
- Stir in flour and salt
- Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour
- Preheat oven to 350
- Roll out the dough by first dusting the surface (mat or countertop) with granular sugar
- Roll to 1/8-inch and cut into 2-inch squares. I used a fluted pastry cutter to get the zig-zap along the edge of the cookies.
- Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square
- Fold over opposite corners and seal well
- Bake for 15 minutes or until corners just begin to brown
- Cool on a rack and dust with powdered sugar
Notes
- While baking the Kolaczki: The hard part will be getting the kolaczki to stay folded over while baking. You did be surprised by how stubbornly many of the Kołaczki opened up like blooming flowers while baking. To prevent this, do the following:
- Make sure the dough is no thicker than a quarter inch.
- Dot one of the corners with water and press it into the opposite corner.
- Then fold the points over.
- For the Kołaczki Fillings: People love the variety of color options with fruit preserves and jams. The jewel tones add such appeal to a tray of cookies. You can make your fillings. Solo fillings work well, but they’ve become increasingly hard to find. You can prepare a nut filling; it takes very little time and tastes great
- Be sure to roll the Kolaczki dough to one-quarter inch thickness and be sure the pastry is sealed tightly before baking. Dough that is too thick will expand and open as the cookies bake in the oven and you will be left with undercooked squares of pastry oozing with jam. Not good.
- Make the dough and fill the cookies ahead of time. Freeze on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- If you don’t want to use jam you can use Solo brand pastry fillings. Keep jam in the middle of the square so that it doesn’t drip out of the pastry when baking. It is recommended that jarred or canned cake and pastry filling—like the Solo brand— be used for this recipe, as any fresh fruit filling will have a tendency to leak out of the cookie when baking.
- It’s not recommended, however, to freeze kołaczki after the cookies have been baked. When defrosted, they become soggy and unpalatable.
- You can also freeze any leftover filling in a zip-close bag or another container, with little loss in flavor or consistency. Just defrost when you’re ready to use. Pour off any accumulated moisture on the surface, stir, and it should be ready to go
- Feel free to experiment with extracts for different flavors of Kolaczki. Vanilla, orange, or lemon zest would all be great additions to try.
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 5mins
- Cook Time: 45mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Polish
- Diet: Low Fat
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 20 Servings
- Calories: 354Kcal
- Sugar: 28g
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 46g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 57mg
Keywords: Kolaczki
Additional resources and citations
- 1https://www.momontimeout.com/kolaczki-polish-cookies/
- 2https://owlbbaking.com/kolaczki/
- 3
