Recipes

Raspberry & Cream Cheese Kolaches

By: The Local Palate

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Kolaches are fluffy pastries that typically cradle fruit, cheese, or even savory options like sausage in their center, and in Joy the Baker’s favorite recipe, you get the best of both worlds with lush raspberry jam and a cream cheese filling.

recipe

yields

About 20 kolaches

For the kolache dough

1 cup full fat Greek yogurt, rested at room temperature for 30 minutes
½ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
½ cup warm water
2 eggs
4 cups flour

For the filling:

1 heaping cup raspberry jam
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg
⅓ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the crumble topping:

¾ cup flour
¾ cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Special Equipment: Stand mixer with fitted dough hook

steps

Make the Kolache dough

In a medium bowl whisk together yogurt, sugar, and salt. Melt butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan and whisk the warm melted butter into the yogurt mixture to combine.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, use a rubber spatula to combine flour, yeast, warm water, and eggs. Add the yogurt mixture and use the spatula to roughly combine.
Knead the mixture with the dough hook on low speed for 5 minutes. Dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but be very tacky to the touch. Add up to 1/2 cup more flour as necessary but really, you want the dough to be sticky. The overnight rest in the refrigerator will make the sticky dough easy to work with.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. While the kolache dough rests, make the cheese filling and the crumble topping.

Make the Filling

In a medium bowl using hand beaters or in the bowl of the stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together all of the cheese filling ingredients until a smooth paste forms. Place in a small container, cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Make the Crumble

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and use your fingers to incorporate the ingredients into a sandy mixture. Cover and place in the fridge until ready to fill.

Assemble & Bake

The following day, remove the dough from the fridge, and divide it into about 20 pieces and use a bench knife to divide the dough into balls that are 1 3/4 ounces (or 50 grams) each, about the size of a golf ball.
Place the pieces on lightly greased or parchment-lined rimmed half sheet pans, leaving about an inch between them. Flatten the balls until they’re about 1/2″ thick, cover them with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.
Using your fingers, make a wide, deep indentation in the center of each flattened dough ball. Don’t be afraid of being decisive here; you want to make a deep enough indentation that it doesn’t just disappear as the buns rise and bake.
Place about 1 tablespoon of the cheese filling and 1 tablespoon of the raspberry jam into each bun side by side; crumble a little of the streusel on top. Cover the kolaches, and allow them to rise for about 45 minutes. They won’t necessarily double in bulk.
Uncover the kolaches, and bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until they’re golden brown.
Remove the kolaches from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature. Store any leftovers airtight at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage and reheat covered in foil to serve warm.

Date Published: 04.24.24