Cream cheese kolache are puffy, soft pillows of buttery dough filled with a pool of rich, creamy cheesecake, then topped with sweet crumbles of streusel. If you’ve ever had one you probably have an addiction. They’re easy to make at home with this vintage recipe.
Ingredients
These are SO good – definitely one of my favorite holiday treats!
- Yeast can be active dry yeast or rapid rise – they both work well.
- Ground ginger helps to wake the yeast up and get it going.
- Sugar is necessary for sweetness as well as giving the yeast colonies something to feed on.
- All-purpose flour is fine for this recipe. You don’t need bread flour.
- Kosher salt is what I normally use. If you use regular table salt you’ll need about 1/3 as much.
- Instant potato flakes help the dough rise high and stay soft.
- Eggs add richness.
- Cream cheese is the most decadent filling – be sure to use regular and not low fat. Low fat or reduced fat will not work.
- Cinnamon adds flavor.
FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
What is a Texas kolache?
It’s a soft, fluffy sweet roll with some sort of filling that can be either sweet or savory. Fruit, cream cheese, sausage…
Kolache originated in Eastern Europe and came to Texas with the Czech immigrants.
Can you freeze them?
Yes, they freeze well baked or unbaked for up to 3 months.
What is the difference between a Danish and a kolache?
Danish are light and flaky. Kolache are more bready… like a cinnamon roll – sort of.
Is it a Texas thing?
Only as far as it came to Texas with Czech immigrants. Since Texas has a large Czech population kolache is popular as well.
Notes
If you’ve tried my fruit kolaches and my sausage kolaches you know that I found the perfect kolache dough recipe in an old OLD cookbook with handwritten notes.
The trick is to whip the dough at the end of the kneading time for about a minute AND to bake these in a hot oven – around 425F. You’ll have the lightest, fluffiest, billowiest, most beautiful homemade kolaches in the universe.
You know… for when you get tired of sweet rolls and waffles!
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature unless otherwise directed in the recipe.
- Use an insta-read thermometer to ensure your liquids aren’t too hot or too cold.
- You can let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator if you want to.
- Using too much flour or overworking the dough will make them tough.
- Homemade kolache are best eaten the same day they are made or frozen.
Related recipes
Here are more of my favorite homemade sweet rolls –
- Cinnamon Cream Cheese Crowns are sweet, rich rolls with a creamy cheese filling. They are easy because they rise overnight in the refrigerator.
- Peanut Butter Sweet Rolls (Whirlamajigs) are filled with a layer of peanut butter cookie with a peanut butter glaze on top. A nice change for cinnamon rolls!
- Gingerbread Donuts are spicy sweet and perfect on a crisp, autumn day. Bake or fry.
Equipment
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I buy a large amount of yeast at a time. A one pound bag is almost the same price as the small jar in the store! Parchment paper keeps the bottoms from burning, keeps the homemade kolache from sticking, and helps give the crust the texture that is a sign of a good cream cheese kolache.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Cream Cheese Kolache
Print Add to CollectionEquipment Needed
Ingredients
Kolache Dough
- 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast, or 1 packet
- Pinch of ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup warm milk, 110F
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
- 2 ½ cups to 3 1/2 all purpose flour, about 3 if using a bread machine
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes, unflavored
- 1 large egg, room temperature
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
Kolache Dough
- Add the yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, and ginger to the ¼ cup milk and set aside.
- Put the 1/2 cup milk and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until the butter melts.
- Let cool to 110F.
- It should feel comfortably warm to when you drop a few drops on your wrist.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine 2 cups of the flour with the salt, sugar, and potato flakes.
- Add the yeast mixture and the cooled milk mixture and stir until blended.
- Add the egg and blend it in.
- Add another 1/3 cup of flour. The dough will be sticky.
- Switch to the dough hook.
- Add flour a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl.
- Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. It should be easy to handle at this point.
- Knead on high for about 30 seconds to a minute.
- Remove from the mixer bowl and form into a ball.
- Rub the ball with melted butter then place it in a greased bowl.
- Turn the ball over once.
- Cover the bowl loosely with a clean tea towel.
- Let it rise for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
- Punch down.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces about the size of an egg.
- Roll into balls and arrange them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Brush with butter, cover loosely with tea towels or plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 hour.
- Make indentations in the buns and fill with cheese mixture.
- Sprinkle with crumb mixture.
- Bake at 425F for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Watch carefully.
Cream Cheese Filling
- Beat together cream cheese with sugar until smooth.
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla.
- Beat until completely incorporated.
Crumb Topping
- Combine sugar with flour and cinnamon.
- Stir in the melted butter until the mixture forms crumbs.
Notes
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature unless otherwise directed in the recipe.
- Use an insta-read thermometer to ensure your liquids aren’t too hot or too cold.
- You can let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator if you want to.
- Using too much flour or overworking the dough will make them tough.
- Homemade kolache are best eaten the same day they are made or frozen.
Tara
What a joy to find this recipe today. I was watching the Extra Virgin Americana episode from Austin where they tried food truck kolaches-they looked great.
I started reminiscing about West Tx and the wonderful kolaches available at the bakery off of I35. When my husband and I moved to Mission Tx, this was a must stop both coming and going from seeing family in Dallas. Sometimes we would go across the highway and eat at the cafe at the cattle auction. Beef for breakfast and kolaches for desert! I live in the Appalachians now and Texas cuisine is a thing of the past. No brisket, kolaches or jalapenos on anything! I am going to do my best to recreate this recipe and introduce my wonderful new community to some Texas traditions. I’ll let you know how it went. Thanks again for the trip down memory lane💖
Marye
Let me know what you think of them!
cate
Can I use this dough recipie to make kolaches filled with egg and sausage?
Marye
This one might be better, Cate – Jalapeno Sausage Kolache
Cate
Thank you!! We used to live in Texas and are missing them!
Marye
🙂 I think you’ll find that these are pretty close!
Bill Black
So this old world cookbook included instant potato flakes??? Or is this your adaptation? Would love to see the recipe as writren…
Marye Audet
Hey Bill,
Yes, it is my adaption because I’m not sure most of my readers are ready to create a recipe that starts off – Mix your yeast with your leftover potato water then grab yourself a handful of leftover mashed potatoes and mix them in real good…. I also adapted my fudge recipe because it starts off with a 5 cent Hershey bar. Not all of my readers are as adept at figuring out obscure measurements as you obviously are. Thanks for your comment.
Kamila
Your kolace looks very good, but as Czechoslovakian, I am struggeling with using potato flakes and ground ginger. But as you explained above it’s your adjustment. To the traditional kolace recipe we also add vanilla sugar, lemon zest and 1-2 T rum. That’s my grandmother recipes. Have you try to use ricotta cheese or dry curd, it has more similar consistency as we use for cheese filling.
Marye Audet
yes.
Ron Rotert
My wife came back from a trip to Waco and had Kolaches at small town bakery and loved them. Your recipe looked good and followed it exactly as shown. They turned out amazingly good and definitely will be added to my weekend bakes. Will experiment with some other favors on the next batches. Even though the cream cheese is good. Thanks for sharing this!
Marye Audet
So glad you liked them! There’s a couple of bakeries down that way that I LOVE. 🙂
Sara Partridge
These look great! I have to make a bite sized version for a food event at my kid’s school. Think I could quarter the egg sized balls and bake for a shorter time and pull it off? Any advice for tiny kolaches?
Marye Audet
I think it would work. You’d just have to be careful of the time. They’d be SO cute!
Sara Partridge
I’ll give it a go, thanks!
Julie Pollitt
I have never heard of these, but have this feeling that I would immediately fall in love!
Marye Audet
🙂 Definitely!
Erica
Can these be frozen?
Marye Audet
Yes they can. 🙂
JIm Peyton
Looks like a terrific recipe, but the instructions do not include what to do with the “4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small chunks”. I assume they are included in the dough but it would be nice to include that in the recipe. Later it does mention brushing the dough with melted butter but does not include that in the list of ingredients.
Thank you!
Marye Audet
Instruction #2 – “Put the 1/2 cup milk and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until the butter melts.” 🙂
Marcia
Is this granulated sugar or confectioners sugar?
Marye Audet
granulated sugar.
allie
Hi Marye – so Cream Cheese Kolache is what I’ve been missing all my life, huh? This New England girl loves the Boston Red Sox and how fast can I get to West from here? Ha ha. Glad to have this delicious new recipe Marye, it looks incredible! All I need is a new addiction, lol. Thankfully I have a treadmill for those 67 miles – I’ll need it!