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Strawberry Cream Cheese Kolacky are indulgent pastries, perfect for your dessert table. These delightful cookies, filled with a rich blend of cheesecake and strawberry jam, are ideal for various occasions such as holidays, baby showers, wedding showers, and birthdays, adding a touch of sweetness to each celebration.
Soft, flaky, and delicious pastries filled with a sweet cream cheese mixture and strawberry jam. Also known as Kolacky, these pastries are made with a rich, buttery dough that is infused with cream cheese, giving them a tangy and creamy flavor that pairs perfectly with the sweet and fruity filling.
Ingredients For Kolacky
- 2 packages (16-ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (16 tablespoons or 226 grams)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar plus more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- strawberry jam
How To Make Strawberry Cream Cheese Kolacky
- Make the dough: In your mixer’s bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy. Add in the flour and salt and continue to mix until combined.
- Lightly dust your work area with powdered sugar. Transfer the dough to the work area and shape it into a ball. Divide it into 4 rounds; flatten each round and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Prepare the creamy filling: In the meantime, prepare the filling by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a mixer’s bowl. Beat until creamy and smooth.
- Dust the work area with flour. Remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest for 5 minutes. Roll out each ball of dough to a 1/4-inch thickness and cut it into 3×3 squares.
- Fill the center of each square with cream cheese mixture and strawberry jam. For a prettier presentation, using a pastry bag, you can pipe the fillings, one over the other.
- Overlap opposite corners of the dough to the center and over the filling. Pinch the seams together. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes or until the edges are browned.
- Cool completely and serve.
Recipe Tips And Variations
- Sensitive Dough: I’m always a little hesitant about sharing these from-back-home recipes with you because some of them require a little bit of kitchen skill. Just a little. For instance, this dough. It’s amazing, but it’s also a diva. If you don’t chill it, it will fall apart. Also!?! Using too much filling will make the cookies soggy.
- Freeze the Dough: Keep in mind that you can make the dough hours ahead of time or freeze it! Then all that’s left to do is thaw it out, roll the dough, cut it into small squares, and arrange the filling in the center of the squares. And bake, of course.
- Sweet Filling: Also, you don’t have to use my strawberry cheesecake filling. Popular fillings for kolache are peach jam, apricot, raspberry, and strawberry or cherry preserves.
- Storing: Do not leave these on the kitchen counter. One, because they will disappear in seconds, and two, because, again, you don’t want to deal with sog-fest. Store them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
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Strawberry Cream Cheese Pastries
Soft, flaky, and delicious cream cheese dough filled with a sweet cream cheese and strawberry jam filling.
Ingredients
For the Pastries
- 1 package (8-ounces) cream cheese,, softened
- 2 sticks unsalted butter,, softened (16 tablespoons or 226 grams)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- powdered sugar for dusting
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Filling
- 1 package (8-ounces) cream cheese,, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar,, if you prefer it sweeter, add more powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- strawberry jam
Instructions
- In your mixer's bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, light, and fluffy.
- Add the flour and salt and continue to mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Lightly dust your work area with powdered sugar.
- Transfer the dough to the work area and shape it into a ball.
- Divide it into 4 rounds; flatten each round and cover each round of dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in your mixer's bowl. Beat until creamy and smooth. Set it aside.
- Dust your work area with flour.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Roll out each ball of dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Then, cut it into 3×3 squares.
- Fill the center of each square with 1/2 teaspoon cream cheese mixture and 1/2 teaspoon strawberry jam. For a prettier presentation, using a pastry bag, you can pipe the fillings, one next to the other or one over the other.
- Overlap opposite corners of the dough to the center and over the filling. Pinch the seams together. Refrigerate the cookie for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
- Remove the cookies from the fridge and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are browned.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely.
- Serve.
Notes
- Cream Cheese: This recipe works best with full-fat cream cheese. Make sure it is softened before you start to work with it.
- Butter: Use two sticks of softened unsalted butter. That is 16 tablespoons or 226 grams of butter.
- Jam Filling: You can use whatever jam or preserves you have on hand. In fact, for a more authentic kolacky, you don’t even have to make the cream cheese filling – just use the jam.
- Do not skip the refrigeration time before rolling out the dough AND before baking the pastries.
- Store the pastries in airtight containers and keep them refrigerated. You can also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months. I suggest freezing them filled but not baked. When you need them, you can thaw them on the counter and then bake them as needed.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 101mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 452IU | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
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I’ve been drooling over these since you first shared them. I’m just going to have to make a batch!!!
This may be a beginner’s question, but at what point do you freeze them? Do you bake them then freeze them or freeze them before baking and then bake them the day you will serve them? Thanks
Hi Karen! Bake and freeze is the best option. First, let them cool completely, then transfer to airtight containers and arrange them in a single layer, line each layer with waxed paper, and freeze. They will be good for up to 3 months. I hope this helps. Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the quick reply. I will try these for Christmas. Thanks!
I’m going to try these. I’m new to this but I love trying new things. It’s all a science, a little of this and that and poof you have an amazing dessert. I just love creating new things. I make so many soups. But desserts are so much fun. I just can not wait to try these I’m sure my family and friends will love them.
Hi, I have been looking for a recipe just like this except to fill it with a date filling. Just not sure how to make a date filling- any ideas?
Made these today for my single regulars for valentines. Big hit !!! They were alittle sticky but not enough you couldn’t work with. I always seem to put to much filling in them but who doesn’t want alittle extra yum? I can’t eat them but oh so temping, with so much great reactions on them it was great seeing them loved. Great job thanks a lot. Traci
I tried this recipe and threw everything out! It was way too sticky and ran together! What a waste of ingredients and time! I am so upset ! Took some time to make and wasted all those expensive ingredients. I don’t know what went wrong but I read it and reread it and I still don’t know.
I am so sorry you had problems with the recipe, Cindy. ๐ Can you tell me what was too sticky? The dough? Did you refrigerate it? Let me know, if you have a minute.
I am making these now and they look delicious. I was planning on serving them in 2 days. Will they keep in an air tight containter at room temperature or should I freeze them and take them out the day of?
Hi Dee! They will be fine if they stay out for a couple of days, so long as they are covered. Wishing you a beautiful Christmas!
Hey! Just want to say this was kinda fun for me and my mom but MAJOR question… was the dough suppose to be sticky or did we do something wrong???
Hi Juanita! It shouldn’t have been dry, but it shouldn’t be sticky, either. I can only guess, but maybe you didn’t scoop out enough flour? Adding just a bit more flour would’ve helped out. Did the pastries turn out for you?
I was wondering if you can prepare these the night before and bake the next morning?
Hi Tawnya! Yes, you absolutely can, but keep them in the fridge. Thank you!!
Did you bake them with the toothpick holding them together? I can’t wait to make these. I just “found” you and signed up for emails immediately. Will be fun going back to see all your recipes. Thanks for sharing. Could you please email me the answer? (I have some computer problems in going back.) yxelyxel (@at) frontier (.dot) com
Hi Lexy! Thank you for reaching out!
I just sent an email to that address, but it came back as undelivered. Hopefully you will be able to see this message.
You won’t need anything to hold the pastries together. I do use the toothpick initially to make the dough stick, but I don’t bake them with toothpicks.
I hope you do get a chance to try the pastries – they are amazing!
Have a wonderful Sunday!!
Instead of making the pastry, would it make much difference if I was to use sweet pastry from the supermarket?
Hi Amanda! Are you talking about puff pastry? I would advise not to use puff pastry as this cookie is much different. The dough is the cookie. I hope you understand what I mean. ๐
No I don’t mean puff pastry. Im from New Zealand, and over here we have something called sweet pastry, which can be used for baking and dessert like items
HI Amanda! I don’t think I’ve used anything similar to that for these particular pastries, but you can try it especially since it’s used as pastry dough. I’d give it a try.