Kolachy
On the fourth day of cookies I slaved and baked for thee, a couple fruity Kolachy.
My fourth cookie is a favorite among the Polish communities in Northeast Pennsylvania. You can go into any local bakery and find this fruity little cookie. They are perfect for cookie trays especially during the Christmas season.
Kolachy
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 8oz block of cream cheese, room temp
¼ tsp kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Powdered sugar
Jam or Jelly of choice
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in the flour until fully incorporated. Wrap the dough in saran wrap and refrigerate until it’s firm enough to handle 1-2 hours or you can also leave it overnight.
Lightly coat your work surface in powdered sugar and roll out the dough ¼” thick. You may need to add more powdered sugar if your dough starts to stick to your work surface.
Cut dough into squares and fill the middle of each square with a teaspoon of jam or jelly of your choice. Fold over opposite corners, wet dough with fingertips and press corners to seal. You want it to look like the cookie is hugging the jam. It’s important to seal the cookie well otherwise they will open up.
Bake until lightly golden brown for about 12-14 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack and once they are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container.
*Notes:
If the thought of trying to seal these cookies scares you, you can easily transform the Kolachy into cream cheese cookie thumbprints! Just form the dough into balls instead, coat them in powdered sugar, make a dimple, bake and then fill the dimple with jam.
If you are at a loss on what kind of jam to use, some of my favorites are blueberry, raspberry, peach, apricot, strawberry and cranberry. I know cranberry jam is an odd one but I always have leftovers from Thanksgiving that I want to use.