Polish Kolaczki Cookie Recipe
These authentic Polish kolaczki cookies are the most perfect and delicate cookie best for the holidays. Growing up in a German and Polish household, I am no stranger to these awesome cookies. We typically bought them from a Polish bakery, but I believe my Great-Grandmother made them from scratch before she died. So I just had to start making them myself.
They are relatively simple to make. Polish kolaczki cookies take very few ingredients. All you need for the cookie dough is cream cheese, butter, sugar, and flour. That’s it! That’s all! Then fill them with premade flavored jam. These cookies also take a short time to bake, about 10 to 12 minutes per batch.
The only big problem is that you will be standing fill and fold these delicate delights. This dough makes about 90 to 100 two-inch cookie cut
A few tips and tricks.
As for the jam, there are a few things I want to tell you all. First off, you will notice I didn’t specify a specific amount of jam used for this recipe. I will confess I don’t know how much I used. Knowing I wanted to make a variety of flavors, I pulled out three types that I had on hand. In the picture, I have apricot, blueberry, and strawberry lemonade. You want to make a small smear on to each of the dough squares. Those smears are hard to quantify. But if I had to guess, I use about one to one and a half cups of jam.
Secondly, it is essential to not glob the jam onto each square. It may look like too small of an amount but using a butter knife and smearing on a small amount is perfect. Too much jam and it will boil over the cookie and break open the folded top part. Trust me, I have already made that mistake. And I don’t want it happening to you.
Lastly, cool them down in the refrigerator when you are finished. The jam will finish setting again in the colder temperatures and will not stick to the other cookies when stacked or run off the cookie altogether.
Also, keep an eye on hungry family members. If you are making these for a special event, you may be making another batch if your entire family keeps stealing cookies behind your back. Yup, that always happens to me when I make these delicious Polish kolaczki cookies for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Tips from other bakers
- Dough can be sticky so best to put in the refrigerator to work with.
- Wrap and chill dough for an hour before working.
- Cookies can be frozen for later.
- Don’t miss anything if you leave out the sugar in the dough.
- “For fillings try a more authentic polish filling like – homemade lekvar (prunes simmered with a little orange peel & puréed with port wine to thin), or finely chopped pecans or walnuts with maple syrup to create a nut “jam”, and lastly ground poppy seed with a touch of maple syrup.”
Cost of this recipe.
In terms of per cookie, these are ridiculously inexpensive cookies. The cost came out to $6.11 for the entire batch or about $0.06 per cookie. The bulk of the price comes from the butter and cream cheese and jam. For this recipe, I use our homemade canned jams, but you can use store-bought. And any favorite flavor will do.
Similar recipes to try
Recipe adapted
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Polish Kolaczki Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened…[$2.00]
- 2 sticks butter, softened…[$2.00]
- ½ cup white granulated sugar, …[$0.15]
- 2 cups all purpose flour, …[$0.46]
- 1½ cups favorite jam, any flavor…[$1.50]
Instructions
- Cream together softened cream cheese, butter, and white granulated sugar. Blend in flour until dough forms a dough ball.
- On a flour surface, cut dough ball into four equal parts. This will help make manageable dough size.
- Roll out each quarter of dough to about ⅛ inch thickness. Cleanly cut squares 2 inches wide.
- Smear a thin layer of your favorite jam diagonally on the cut squares. Don’t over fill otherwise it will pop the dough open and ooze all over.
- Fold the other end of the cookie over the jam smear and place on a cookie sheet. These cookies don’t spread so you can put the cookies close together on baking sheet.
- Bake in an oven at 350 °F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Put cooled cookies in the refrigerator so the jam and cookie will finish setting.
Polish Kolaczki Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened…[$2.00]
- 2 sticks butter, softened…[$2.00]
- ½ cup white granulated sugar, …[$0.15]
- 2 cups all purpose flour, …[$0.46]
- 1½ cups favorite jam, any flavor…[$1.50]
Instructions
- Cream together softened cream cheese, butter, and white granulated sugar. Blend in flour until dough forms a dough ball.
- On a flour surface, cut dough ball into four equal parts. This will help make manageable dough size.
- Roll out each quarter of dough to about ⅛ inch thickness. Cleanly cut squares 2 inches wide.
- Smear a thin layer of your favorite jam diagonally on the cut squares. Don’t over fill otherwise it will pop the dough open and ooze all over.
- Fold the other end of the cookie over the jam smear and place on a cookie sheet. These cookies don’t spread so you can put the cookies close together on baking sheet.
- Bake in an oven at 350 °F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Put cooled cookies in the refrigerator so the jam and cookie will finish setting.
I need to make a large quantity for a wedding. Have you ever frozen the cookies? Wondering if I bake and cool the cookies then freeze. I could add powdered sugar after they thaw the day I need them.
I have never frozen them since I can never keep them long enough. My family loves them. They do refrigerate well. I am just not sure on the freezing.
I would say these turned out perfect, first time around. They froze perfect (just have to freeze on a pan first so they don’t stick…I suppose you can layer parchment paper between layers).