I’ve been dreaming about making these Raspberry Cream Cheese Kolaches for the last few months, and am so glad I finally found some time this morning to make them happen. I made them with an enriched, yeasted sweet dough and filled them with a slightly sweet cream cheese filling, swirled with raspberry preserves. They are so light and airy – not as rich or heavy as a traditional danish or pastry.
What are Kolache?
Kolaches are a traditional Czech pastry, brought to Texas in the 1800s by Czech immigrants. The word kolache comes from the Czech word, kola, which means “wheels” or “rounds”. They can have sweet or savory fillings. Let me show you how I made them…
I started off by making my favorite enriched, yeasted sweet dough. This is the same dough I use for my cinnamon rolls and cinnamon twist bread. The dough needs to be covered so it can rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough for up to 12 hours, or overnight.
When you are ready to make the kolaches, punch the dough down, and pour it out onto a well-floured surface. Roll it out until it is 1/2 inch thick, and then cut rounds (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter). Place the dough rounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and then cover and allow to rise a second time for 45 minutes.
When the dough rounds are puffy, use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to press a deep well into the center. My boys loved helping with this part! Fill the wells with a mixture of cream cheese, egg, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Swirl in a teaspoon or two of your favorite raspberry preserves.
Brush the dough with an egg wash, and they’ll have a beautiful golden sheen after baking. Allow them to cool slightly and then dust with powdered sugar.
These Raspberry Cream Cheese Kolaches are buttery, soft, sweet, and irresistible! I’m not even going to tell you how quickly we all devoured them. They would be wonderful to bake up on Christmas morning, especially since the dough and filling can be made the night before. I will be making these again very soon!
Please leave me a comment if you’ve made a variation of kolaches I need to know about! The possibilities are endless, and it’s so fun to hear about the traditions behind the recipes.
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Raspberry Cream Cheese Kolaches
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 14 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Czechoslovakian
Description
These Raspberry Cream Cheese Kolaches are buttery, soft, sweet, and irresistible! Perfect for Christmas morning!
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1 cup warm whole milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
For the Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
- additional powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
For the Dough
- Pour yeast into a large bowl, and add warm water. The temperature should be like a baby’s bathwater. Allow it to sit (active yeast will become foamy) for 3-5 minutes.
- Add warm whole milk, granulated sugar, and beaten egg. Stir together with a dough whisk, or rubber spatula.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and stir until incorporated.
- Add salt and butter, stir again.
- Add remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour gradually. The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl, but still sticky to the touch.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, it may be refrigerated (keep well covered) for up to 12 hours or overnight.
- When you are ready to make the kolaches, pour the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Roll the dough out 1/2 inch thick, and cut 2 1/2 inch circles out of the dough. Re-roll excess dough, and cut again. I got about 18 rounds from this recipe. Place them on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover and let them rise for 45 minutes in a warm place.
For the Filling
- In the meantime, make the cream cheese filling. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to whisk the cream cheese, egg, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
- When the dough rounds have risen, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to press a deep well into the center of each dough round.
- Fill each well with about two tablespoons of cream cheese filling. Swirl 1-2 teaspoons of raspberry preserves into the filling of each well.
- For a golden sheen, brush the outer rim of the dough with an egg wash (1 egg beaten + 1 teaspoon water) before baking.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 11-14 minutes, or until light golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack, and then dust with powdered sugar.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Kolache
- Calories: 221
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 146mg
- Fat: 9.4g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.1g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 4.3g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
Sue says
I have blackberry jam and raspberry/plum preserves — both without sugar due to diabetes
Would you make any adjustments for the lack of sugar in the jams?
Julie says
Hi Sue, I don’t think I would change anything if you are using a sugar free preserve. If you wanted to use a sugar substitute in the cream cheese filling, you could do that as well. I hope you enjoy!
Julie G says
This looks like a really terrific recipe! I like the ease of making the dough with the danish dough whisk and never thought to cut out circles and fill the center! I can’t wait to try this recipe. Possibilities are endless with the different fruit preserve options. I’ll come back around with a review when I get a chance to try them.
Julie says
Hi Julie – thanks so much for your comment. They were so fun to make, and I hope you love them as much as we do!
Julie G says
I made the dough last night, let it rise, then refrigerated it overnight. I baked them this morning and we love them! Used strawberry preserves and an egg white wash for a pretty sheen. I drizzled a little powdered sugar glaze over them.
The dough is easy to work with and forgiving. I rolled a few a little thinner and found the ones I rolled to a 1/2 inch came out much nicer. I can’t wait to make them again with different fruit variations.
I love the ease of this recipe vs using the typical laminated dough for danish. They are excellent!!
Julie says
Julie, thanks so much for the feedback and kind review. I’m so glad you all enjoyed!
Wanda says
These are delicious! Absolutely specialty bakery quality! Instructions were easy to follow! Well done!
Mysti says
So,I am not even close to being a baker… Do i need to refrigerate the dough before we fill and bake or can we make this all at once?
Julie says
Hi! You can make it all at once, but I find that the dough is easier to work with it is chilled somewhat. And just a couple of tips if you are working with yeast for the first time – 1) Make sure it is ACTIVE DRY YEAST 2) Make sure the water, milk, and butter added are just a little warmer than room temperature or your yeast won’t activate 3) Use your senses when working with the dough. If it feels too sticky to touch add just a bit more flour, a little at a time, and make sure your work surface is well-floured or the dough will stick and it will be frustrating. 4) Read through the entire recipe first and gather ingredients and equipment before you start. Happy baking!
Christine morris says
This recipe looks delish but is too much for my self-isolating family of 3 this year. Do you have a half recipe by chance? Alternatively, can you freeze the dough or bake first and then freeze?
Julie says
You could try making a half recipe (beat the egg first, then add half) but I have not tried freezing them yet. Hope you enjoy.
Veronica says
Love, love it! I made it today and my family thought I bought it at a pastry store. The recipe was so easy to understand. It was easy all together! Thank you ❤️
LaNora L Wilson says
My favorite is poppyseed or fig filling but I heard that you can have sausage and scrambled eggs too. That sounds interesting.
Susan Dubose says
These are awesome. So easy for how beautiful they come out. I doubled the recipe and only chilled the dough for about 3 hours and the dough was perfect.
D says
Would a lower fat content milk change the recipe too much? I’ve got 1% milk.
Julie says
Hi – I haven’t tried this recipe with 1 percent milk, so it could work out just fine – I do tend to prefer whole milk in my enriched breads whenever possible. Let me know what you think if try them.
Linda says
Ii just pulled my first tray out-and my thought is will there’s still be as delicious the next day and should they be stored?
Delicious! 😉
Julie says
So glad you like them! We enjoyed ours the next morning as well. Once they are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Amanda says
Just took these out of the oven, scrumptious and decadent. Will enjoy this recipe for a long time to come thank you for sharing Julie!
Julie says
Amanda, you just made my day! I love hearing how my recipes turn out, and I’m so glad you love them as much as we do!
Christine Holmquist says
They are delicious!!!! Can I freeze them for a later time, since the receipe makes a lot and just 3 people to eat them??
Julie says
Christine, I haven’t tried freezing them, but I don’t see why you couldn’t. I’m so glad you made them, and enjoyed.
julie a carlson says
These are the BOMB! So good! I have made Kolaches for years with and old family recipe, but these are actually better! The dough is easier to work with and the taste is everybit as authentic as my Chek recipe. Just wondering if I could double the dough and make it a day ahead? Have you tried sausage , cheese and jalapeno Kolaches? Delish!!!! Thanks look forward to hearing from you….j
Marion says
My grandma used to make these with a sweetened quark filling and then topped them of with streusel (crumbles), they never lasted ling ☺😋. You can easily make the dough ahead and freeze it: knock it back after proofing, then wrap in clingfilm and freeze. Defrist and let it rise/proof till doubled in size and finish the kolatschen
Isabelle says
This is the first time i made kolaches, and i like it, i made the soursough version, and i divided the filling, one for sweet filling with peach jam, and one for savoury filing with garlic, parsley, and parmessan cheese. Thank you for sharing the recipes..
Holly says
I made these with my 2 grandson’s (5 & 8) this morning)! I made the dough last night. The dough was very easy to make and turned out perfect! We filled some of them with Lemon creme, some with Cherry pie filling and the the Cream cheese filling we swirled some with the lemon filling and some with the cherry filling! Delicious! They were so easy to make and so much fun to do with the boys! Thank you for the recipe! We not only made some delicious Kolaches but also made some special memories!
Rita says
Hi it looks yummy… Can I replace the egg in the cream cheese filling with something else? My daughter is allergic to eggs
Colleen says
My great grandmom made something just like this. The dough was the same but would roll it out flat and spread apricot or lekver then roll it up and cook it. Like a jelly roll.
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Liz says
I’m only familiar with Polish kolaches. They are made at Christmas and resemble baby Jesus wrapped in blanket.
QUESTION: can I use gluten free flour?
jiřina veličkova says
přesně ěeske kolače u nás davame ještě posypku a mužou se plnit makem ,tvarohem ,povidly nebo čerstvim ovocem
Betty says
Please speak English. This is America.
Melissa says
Well Betty, apparently you’re not aware of how the internet works. You may be in America, but Pinterest is accessible to the entire world. It’s lovely when people from other countries (especially the country of the recipe’s origin) add their opinion.
Christine says
If I refrigerate the dough overnight, does it have to come to room temperature before rolling out and proceeding with the remaining steps?
Darlene says
When I make your cinnamon twist bread, which is the best by the way, I use bread flour like you do on the video. Should I use bread flour in this recipe also?
Elaine says
It seams that if you push down To put the filling it would collapse the dough. Have you ever Rolled it out and added the filling and then allow it to rise?
Virginia Hanke says
Made as posted and I have one word. FABULOUS 👌
I thank you and my friends thank you!
Sylvia Parker says
Easiest sweet dough ever!
Thank you for sharing