By December coming and I have made a decision: this year gets Christmas. Full Christmas. We had a limited Easter, a limited Thanksgiving, a pandemic summer — December gets all of it. The decorations went up the day after Thanksgiving, which is usually my rule anyway. Ryan strung lights on the balcony railing and I put them inside too and the apartment looks like the best possible version of small and warm and ours.
I started Christmas baking on Saturday: Babcia Rose kolaczki — those little jam-filled pastry cookies that take forever and are worth every minute. The dough is cream cheese and butter and flour, chilled overnight, rolled very thin, filled with apricot or raspberry or prune jam, pinched into little triangles, dusted with powdered sugar. Babcia Rose makes them by muscle memory. I make them with a recipe I transcribed from watching her hands. This year I called her while I made them and she talked me through the parts I was unsure of. She said my dough was probably too warm. She could not see my dough. She was right about my dough.
The school year is heading into its winter stretch with the holiday break coming December 18th, and I feel the countdown in my bones. My students are in that pre-Christmas state that is somewhere between enchanting and extremely difficult to manage, and I am managing it with a combination of structured activity and the occasional game that is actually secretly about the curriculum. This is the teacher secret: the thing that looks like just playing is always also the thing.
The blog has been in Christmas mode since Monday. Every post this month is either a holiday recipe, a gift guide for kitchen things, or a budget tip for the holiday season. The kolaczki went up Tuesday and the response was enormous — people sharing their own Polish cookie recipes, their own grandmother recipes, their own versions of the thing that only exists in one kitchen in the world. That thread of connection is what this is all for.
The kolaczki were the whole point of this December — the thing I wanted to get right more than any other part of the holiday push. Babcia Rose talked me off the ledge about my warm dough, and when they came out of the oven dusted in powdered sugar and smelling like every Christmas I can remember, I knew I had to share not just her recipe but the whole category of cookies that carry that same spirit: simple ingredients, patient technique, and the kind of result that makes a small apartment feel like the warmest place in the world. If you’re starting your own holiday baking, these easy cookie recipes — and the kolaczki at the center of them — are exactly where I’d tell you to begin.
Easy Cookie Recipes — Kolaczki (Polish Cream Cheese Jam Cookies)
Prep Time: 30 minutes + overnight chill | Cook Time: 14 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes active | Servings: 48 cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz (1 block) full-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup apricot jam
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam
- 1/4 cup prune jam (lekvar) or your preferred third flavor
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Make the dough. Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together in a large bowl until completely smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the salt and flour in two additions, mixing just until a soft dough forms. Do not overwork it.
- Chill overnight. Divide the dough into two flat discs, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Cold dough is non-negotiable — warm dough will stick, tear, and refuse to hold its shape. (Babcia Rose will know.)
- Preheat and prep. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Work with one disc of dough at a time, keeping the other in the refrigerator.
- Roll and cut. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness — thin is key for the right flaky texture. Cut into 2-inch squares using a sharp knife or pastry wheel.
- Fill and shape. Place a scant 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center of each square. Fold two opposite corners toward the center and pinch firmly to seal, forming a little bundle. Press the seam gently so it holds during baking.
- Bake. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 12–14 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden. They should look pale — they firm up as they cool.
- Cool and dust. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Once fully cool, dust generously with powdered sugar. Dust again right before serving, because the sugar disappears into the cookies and they always need more.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 78 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 8g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 38mg