Kolaczki – Polish Cream Cheese Biscuits with Cherry Jam

Today is officially my last day of work of 2017, though I will probably continue to write next week, such as the life of the freelance blogger. I wanted to leave you with a festive recipe, the Kolaczki Biscuit, a filled Polish cookie for Christmas and Easter.

I started Mondomulia six years ago to share my favourite recipes and from the beginning I set myself the goal to bake every week to learn new techniques. December was always a challenging month, as I attempted to recreate my favourite Christmas recipes.

At Christmas time, I like to make traditional Italian dolci di Natale (Italian Christmas sweets) such as the Gubana Cake, Zuccotto and Mini Panettone. Other festive recipes include Reindeer Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream or the Chocolate Crackle Cookies.

This year I have been so busy with work and writing posts about my travels that I haven’t had much time to bake festive recipes. Last Saturday I finally made time to bake something new. I asked my husband what he would like me to make and he suggested that I try a Polish recipe.

We have travelled to Poland several times in the past year and we are both in love with this country. We are hoping to live there for a few years to learn more about Polish culture and traditions. I don’t know a lot about Polish cuisine, so I searched for Christmas recipes online and I found kolaczki.

Kolaczki are flaky biscuits, with a dough made of butter and cream cheese and a filling of jam.

Kolaczki biscuits are traditionally made for Christmas and other holidays in Poland and other eastern European countries.

This recipe for kolaczki biscuits is straightforward and quick. Give it a try, it is always rewarding to create something delicious from scratch. The results are worth the efforts and time spent in the kitchen, even on days when all you want to do is sit on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate and a slice of Panettone!

I am sure my husband and his colleagues will agree, as they are often the recipients of my baking experiments!

Polish Kolaczki Biscuits

Makes about 30-35 biscuits.

Ingredients

• 220g cream cheese, softened
• 300g unsalted butter, softened
• 350g plain flour
• 200g cherry jam (or any other flavour)
• 1 egg whites
• 100g granulated sugar
• 100g icing sugar

Preparation

Mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add flour slowly, mixing well as you add it in, until you have obtained a dough. Flatten the dough with your hands (this will make it easier to roll out later). Wrap dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 180°C fan. On a counter dusted with icing and granulated sugars, roll out the dough (about 1/2 cm thick). Cut the dough into 5x5cm squares. Place half teaspoon of jam in the centre of each dough square. Brush one corner with egg whites as this will act as glue to stick the pastry together. Overlap the opposite corners of dough, making sure the pastry covers the jam filling. Press firmly.

Bake the biscuits for about 20 minutes or until the corners start to brown. Remove from the oven and cool down on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Store in an airtight container (preferably without the icing sugar) for about a week.

Recipe adapted from Jersey Bites.