How Santa even came to our house that year is beyond me.

Oh yea that’s right. He smelled the oh so delicate, fresh baked kolacki that my baby brother’s little hands ever so lovingly (HA! Right…) set out for him. Then I snuck him some Stoli and Case Dismissed! Put this girl BACK on the “Nice” list. But alas. I never stayed there for long.

Kolacki are Polish filled cookies that taste like little perfect bites of puff pastry with a touch of sweet filling. This filling can be cherry or cheese or apricot or plum or nut or blueberry… do I really need to keep gong here? You get the drift right? You can fill them with whatever your wittle ole tummy desires. Make your own filling, or buy it in a can. Solo makes some EXCELLENT fillings for Kolacki. I wouldn’t recommend them if I have not used them and been thrilled with them myself. I actually L O V E their cherry filling. And we already know, cherry is one of my favorites!

So gather ye goods!

1 8 oz block of cream cheese. (NOT neufchatel – Full fledged CREAM CHEESE. Please.)
1 1/3 cups of butter
2 T sugar
1 t vanilla
1 2/3 cups flour, sifted with 1/2 t baking powder
powdered sugar

Follow thee directions!

Beat cream cheese & butter until creamy. Blend in sugar & vanilla. Add flour / baking powder mixture slowly and mix till combined and a nice stiff dough has formed. Press into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for several hours – or overnight.

Preheat oven to °350.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4″ thick. Now the next step you can go about a couple ways:

1) Cut into 3″ squares. Make a depression in the middle of the square with the back of a spoon or your finger or a billiard ball… and fill with about 1 t of your filling of choice. Take the opposite ends of the cookie and fold over filling, pinching the corners together. Bake for 10ish minutes

or

B) Using a 2.5″ biscuit cutter, cut out circles. Make depression in the dough using your fist or a beer bottle or your cats head… and fill with about 1 t of your filling of choice. Bake for 10ish minutes

I started out doing 1)… but we all remember my kitchen right? It is about °369 in there right now and the dough went in the oven too warm and the cookies opened and what do we do with a bunch of ugly cookies?

That is right boys and girls we EAT THEM.

gurgle…

SO I opted for B). And they look so pretty and yummy but hell no am I eating any more of these because I ate so many already I need to run about 27 miles to work it off.

But where was I… oh yea. Let them COMPLETELY cool. Then dust with powder sugar.

Then eat quickly, because once you put them out for guests. They will be gone.

Since this is my last post before Christmas, I would just like to take this opportunity to wish EVERYONE a very Happy and Jolly Holiday. Stay safe, enjoy your loved ones and eat till your hearts (or belly’s) content. And be sure to stay tuned for a very very festive post from my special guy, Jeff. I swear, he is SO FULL of holiday spirit why he could be Santa’s head elf! You do NOT want to miss it.