Cherry Cream Cheese Pinwheel Cookies (2024)

These flaky Cherry Cream Cheese Pinwheel Cookies are a twist on the traditional Eastern European Kolache (or Kolaczki) Christmas Cookie recipe.

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Kolache or Cherry Cream Cheese Pinwheel Cookies are one of those Christmas cookie recipes that will always remind me of my childhood. My sweet mother still makes them today. This flaky cookie recipe has a cream cheese crust and just melts in your mouth.

Kolache or Kolaczki are Eastern Europeanpastries made of a yeast dough and usually filled with fruit and sometimes cheese. Mom fills them with apricot or nuts but some folks fill them poppy seed, prune and a sweet-but-simple farmer’s cheese which can be traced back to the pastry’s Eastern European origin.

My mom’s version is much more involved than the recipe I am sharing today. Her pinwheel cookies recipe involves a yeast dough that needs a lot of rolling to make the dough extra flaky.

Ingredients Needed to Make Kolache Cookies

Cream Cheese
Unsalted butter
All-Purpose Flour; plus more for rolling cookies
Cherry filling
Powdered sugar for dusting

How To Make Kolaches

Mix cream cheese and softened unsalted butter in a stand mixer. Add in three cups of flour. Mix well. Wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Place a quarter of the dough on a dough board and roll out to a thin layer. Cut into 2 inch to 1 1/2 inch squares. Then using a pizza dough cutter slice the corners lengthwise into the center of the square. Do this on all four corners. Leaving some uncut in the middle where the filling will be placed.

Put a small amount of cherry filling into the center of the square. Fold in one end of each cut. Place one end into the center then skip the next then do the next one to the center and repeat. Us a little water to press all of them together in the center. This allows for them to stay well when baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes. Remove to cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container.

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Save Cherry Cream Cheese Pinwheel Christmas Cookie recipe. Pin the image below to your favorite Pinterest board.

Yield: 15 cookies

Cherry Cream Cheese Pinwheel Cookies {Kolaches}

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

These flaky Cherry Cream Cheese Pinwheel Cookies are a twist on the traditional Hungarian Kolaches Christmas Cookie recipe.

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
• 3 cups flour; plus more for rolling cookies
• 1 1/4 cup cherry filling
• powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Mix together cream cheese and softened unsalted butter in a stand mixer. Add in three cups of flour. Mix well. Wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.
2. Divide dough into four equal parts. Place a quarter of the dough on a dough board and roll out to a thin layer. Cut into 2-inch to 1 1/2 inch squares. Then using a pizza dough cutter slice the corners lengthwise into the center of the square. Do this on all four corners. Leaving some uncut in the middle where the filling will be placed.
3. Add a small amount of cherry filling into the center of the square. Fold in one end of each cut. Place one end into the center then skip the next then do the next one to the center and repeat. Us a little water to press all of them together in the center. This allows for them to stay well when baking.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes.
5. Remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container.

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