Cherry and Cream Cheese Kolaches

A close up of a kolache. The rest of them are in the background.

These cherry and cream cheese kolaches are made with a soft and buttery dough, topped with cream cheese filling and a homemade cherry pie filling. These are perfect for summer!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Czech

Prep Time 55

Cook Time 18

Rising Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 3944kcal

Author Nina

Ingredients

Cherry Filling

2 cups fresh cherries pitted and chopped
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon water

Kolache Dough

1 teaspoon dry active yeast
¼ cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup milk warm
½ cup unsalted butter room temperature, cut into 1" pieces
1 large egg room temperature
1 large egg yolk room temperature
3-4 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling

4 ounces cream cheese room temparture
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 large egg yolk room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Streusel Topping

2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter cold

Instructions

Cherry Filling

Add cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt to a medium sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat until cherries have released their juices.
In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch and water together. Add to cherry mixture and stir in. Bring the filling to a boil, and simmer for a few minutes until the filling has thickened.
Remove from heat and let it cool while you make the dough. You can also make this a day ahead and store in the refrigerator over night.

Kolache Dough

Add yeast, sugar, and warmed milk to a large bowl. Whisk and allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes until it starts to froth.
Add butter, eggs, 2 cups of the flour, and salt. Knead together adding ½ cup flour as needed until the dough comes together and cleans the sides of the bowl (if using a stand mixer).
Place dough into a greased large bowl. Cover and let sit until doubled, about an hour.

Cream Cheese Filling

Add cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg yolk, and lemon zest to a medium sized bowl. Whip together until smooth. Store at room temperature until ready to use.

Streusel

In a medium sized bowl, combine sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk together.
Add butter and using a fork or your hands, break up the butter in the dry ingredients until the butter is the size of peas. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Assembly

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Roll kolache dough out into a large rectangle, about ½ inch thick. Use a 2½ inch or 3 inch round cookie cutter to cut circles out of the dough.
Place dough rounds on the prepared baking sheets. Re-roll up any extra dough and cut more circles out, until all the dough is used.
Cover dough circles and let sit until poofy, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) while dough is resting.
Use a spoon to make slight indents on the top of each dough circle.
Place 2 tablespoons cream cheese filling into each indent. Top with a tablespoon of cherry pie filling and then followed by a sprinkling of streusel.
Bake for 15-18 mins, or until golden, rotating the trays halfway through the baking time.
Store leftovers at room temperature for 2 days.

Notes

You can make the cherry filling a day or two ahead.
You can use frozen cherries instead of fresh. Don't thaw them before using them in this recipe.
You can make the dough the night before. Let it rise until doubled in size and then store in the refrigerator covered until the next day. Let it come to room temperature before continuing with the recipe.
Don't skimp on the streusel! It adds the perfect crunch to these sweet pastries.

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