These red raspberry kolache cookies are soft, bakery-style cookies with a bright raspberry filling tucked into the center. Unlike traditional yeast kolaches, these are made with a tender cookie dough that is easy to shape and perfect for filling. They are flakey, not cakey, and bake up beautifully for cookie trays, holidays, or special occasions. If you love cookies with a fruit filling, this is a classic you will want to keep in your recipe box.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
Recipe Name: Red Raspberry Kolache Cookies
Ready In: about 3 hours and 30 minutes (including chill)
Yield: 58 cookies (less if you use a larger square cookie cutter)
Texture: flakey, tender, pastry-like
Flavor Profile: bright raspberry, lightly sweet cookie
Get to Know This Cookie
Use the buttons below to get a quick overview or ask questions before you bake.
These red raspberry kolache cookies are simple to make, but the flavor feels anything but basic. The cream cheese dough bakes up soft and tender, creating the perfect base for the raspberry filling. With just a handful of ingredients, this is the kind of cookie that proves simple recipes can still feel special.
If you enjoy cookies made with a soft cream cheese dough and fruit filling, you might also like my Blackberry Cookie Cups or Apricot with Almonds Rugelach, which offer the same tender texture with different fruit flavors.
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Ingredients
- Butter unsalted
- Cream cheese
- All-purpose flour
- Red raspberry preserves
- Powdered sugar
- Egg whites
Preserves, Jam or Jelly Tips
For this type of cookie, you need a filling that will not melt and run everywhere. Jelly I would not recommend, simply because in my experience it melts and runs right out of the cookie. I know people have much better luck using jelly for thumbprint cookies.
Preserves and jams both work well here. I like the Bonne Maman brand because the preserves do not have large chunks of fruit. If you make these with your favorite brand and the filling runs out the ends, you may need to try a different brand. The take away is that you need a thick preserves or jam.
Instructions
Prepping and Mix
This is a pretty straightforward recipe that comes together pretty quickly.
In a bowl, weigh or measure the flour and set it aside.
1. Add cubed butter and the cream cheese to a mixer bowl.
2. Turn your mixer onto a low speed until the butter and cream cheese start to blend together. I then turn the speed to a medium for three minutes. You just want the cream cheese and butter to be blended.
3. Add the flour to the butter and cream cheese mixture about a third at a time. Just mix until it starts to come together. Do not worry if there are loose flour pieces. You are going to dump it onto a lightly floured pastry mat and finish mixing on the mat.
4. Knead the cookie dough until all the loose flour pieces are incorporated. I find the dough is much flakier and tender if I knead the flour in rather than using the mixer to do it. Shape it into a flat round or oval shape.
5. Wrap the cookie dough with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours (I have also chilled it overnight).
Roll and Fill
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). I take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator so it can warm up slightly, which makes rolling the dough easier. Line two cookie sheet pans with parchment paper and set them aside.
6. Take the dough and cut it into quarters.
7. You will need to brush egg whites on the two opposite sides of the square dough to help seal the edges. I use a simple egg separator to do this.
Equipment Tips
I have different sized square cookie cutters from a set by de Buyer, and choose the 2-½ inch square. These sell out fast but you can also find them at Pastry Chef's.
The dowel rolling pin is from JK Adams with rolling pin band on the ends for ⅛" (red ones) depth of cookie dough. My pastry mat is 8 years old and has changed since I purchased this one, but the size I have is 25" X 16" and is made of Silicone. Sticks to the counter without sliding around and easy to clean up.
8. Lightly flour the pastry mat and add a quarter of the cookie dough.
9. Roll out the dough and cut as many squares as you can, then move them to the prepared sheet pan. Gather the remaining dough, roll it out again, and cut more squares. Continue until all the dough is used. I get about twelve or slightly more cookies per quarter.
10. Take about one-half teaspoon of raspberry preserves and add it to the center of each square. Take one corner of the dough and fold it over the preserves, then brush egg white on the top of that corner.
11. I slide the long end of an ice tea spoon between the preserves and the dough. Bring the opposite corner of the dough over the corner with the egg wash and press along the edges to seal. The spoon gives you something solid to press against on so you don't squish the preserves out the ends.
12. I also brush egg whites along the top seams to help prevent the cookies from opening during baking.
Bake
13. Bake them for 14-16 minutes at 350°F (175°C or 180°C), or until until the edges are lightly browned. Move the cookies to a cooling rack once they are out of the oven.
If you like your cookies even sweeter you can dust them with powdered sugar after they have cooled.
Enjoy!
Storage Tips
These cookies are easy to store right on your countertop. I use a container with a tight-fitting lid to keep them tasting like the first day. They will stay fresh for five to seven days.
FAQs
You need a thick jam or preserves. Jelly does not work well for this type of cookie.
Kolache are normally round and the dough is a yeast-based dough and a sweet filling. Kolache cookies are made with a cream cheese and butter dough that is folded over a filling. Both are delicious and come from the same tradition of sweet, fruit-filled pastries.
Of course, yes. As long as the preserves are thick and sweet, you can swap them out for your favorite fruit. Most of the flavor comes from the preserves, so use one you enjoy.
Can I Freeze This Cookie?
I do not typically freeze cookie dough when testing my recipes, so the instructions above reflect how this cookie was baked and stored. If you'd like to explore general freezing options for this cookie, the AI tool below can provide additional information.
More Preserves or Jam Filled Cookies
Recipe
Red Raspberry Kolache Cookies
Barbara HallWould you like to save this recipe?
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 6 ounces (170.1 g) Cream Cheese
- 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) All-purpose flour
- 5 ounces (141.75 g) Red raspberry jam
- ¼ cup (30 g) Powdered sugar For dusting on top of the cookies
- 1 (1) Egg whites lightly beaten for sealing
Instructions
- Weigh or measure the flour and set it aside. Use a stand or hand-held mixer to mix the butter and cream cheese together. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour about a third at a time. Transfer the dough to a pastry mat and finish kneading it by hand. Flatten the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for two hours.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator about thirty minutes before rolling and cut it into quarters. Line a cookie pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Separate the egg and lightly beat the egg whites. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to one-eighth inch thickness. Using a two-and-a-half inch square cookie cutter, cut twelve squares and place them on the prepared pan, rerolling scraps as needed.
- Add about one-half to one teaspoon of red raspberry preserves to the center of each square of dough. Fold one corner over the jam and brush the top with a little beaten egg white. Slide the handle of a long iced tea spoon between the folded dough and the preserves. Bring the opposite corner over and press along the edges to seal, using the spoon as a solid surface and to prevent the filling from squeezing out. Finish by brushing a little egg white along the sealed edges.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 14 to 16 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Move the cookies to a cooling rack after removing them from the oven. For a sweeter version, dust with powdered sugar after the cookies have cooled.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
Theresa says
Help! My jam ran out of my cookies! It turned liquidy and then poured out of every cookie! Used normal seedless raspberry name
Barbara says
Hi Theresa, Did you use jam or jelly? You need one that is thick like with jam or preserves. I will email you! - Barbara
Jane says
I appreciate the hints and examples on sealing the tips of the cookies. Before I read the instructions (instead of jumping down to the recipe and making them), the cookies opened and did not look appetizing (although they were!).
So in trial #2, I saw your instructions, and now have proof of this famous advice: "when all else fails, read the directions". Genius! The egg white and spoon handle trick works and it makes the cookies as beautiful as they are tasty. Thanks for sharing it!
Barbara says
Hi Jane, I will tell you I had a good chuckle since I am also guilty of doing the same thing. All kidding aside, I am so glad you liked the cookies. Thank you - Barbara
Nan Chapman says
These are so delicious!
Barbara says
Hi Nan, I am sooo happy you enjoyed the cookies, they are a favorite of mine! -Barbara