Cherry Jam Cream Cheese Pastries – Pinwheel Cookies

I just can’t believe it is December 2nd already! But I kind of like it! I’m a little more motivated to bake sweet treats in the winter than in the summer, I guess that oven keeps me warm, that’s why.

These Cherry Jam and Cream Cheese Pastries are sort, buttery and flakey. Filled with cherry jam and sweet cream cheese filling. Not overly sweet, perfect for breakfast or a coffee break. These pastries will also be great for a holiday gathering or even Valentine’s day. The cream chese-butter dough is what makes these pastries exceptional!

They also are pretty easy to make, you just need to be a little patient and properly let your dough rest and chill. This dough needs to be chilled for at least 4-6 hours before making the cookies. The cookies should also be chilled for at least 1 hour before baking. This will ensure that they don’t spread , don’t open and keep their shape while baking.

Honestly, I did not have hard time making, baking or eating these, but I had a hard time naming them. Some people call them cookies, but I think pastries sounds a little better. I researched some old cook books and these were named “pinwheels” , “windmills”? Really? I think it is because of their shape. You basically roll the dough, cut 3×3 inch squares, make diagonal slits, making sure you don’t cut all the way through the center. Then you fill the centers with jam and cream cheese-powdered sugar mixture. Bring every other corner of dough together to center and press to seal.

If you don’t like the pinwheel shape, you can just cut squares, fill the inside with jam and cream cheese filling and overlap opposite corners over the filling.

The idea of these is also similar to polish cookies called: “kolacky “, but this is how they are made in Bulgaria!

They might look  little like the popular Danish pastries, but they don’t even taste similar to them. They taste much, much better!

I’m not gonna tell you how many of these I ate on Sunday, when I made them, because I’m just embarrassed! But they are so good. Plus they bring to me some memories from my childhood!

As a child, my grandmother and I used to make these cream cheese pastries all the time. The dough for them contains just cream cheese, butter, salt and flour. This dough is some kind of a lazy Eastern European version of puff pastry dough. And since it is homemade, no taste or flavor is being sacrificed. I’m pretty sure regular puff pastry will work for these pastries, but I prefer the butter-cream cheese dough.

In this recipe I used cherry jam, but you can use your favorite jam. Some people tend to skip the cream cheese filling, but I don’t recommend it. It is creamy and pairs perfectly with the flakey pastries and tart cherry jam.

I hope you like these and get to make them for the holidays!

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5 from 8 votes

Cherry Jam Cream Cheese Pastries (Pinwheel Cookies)

By Lyubomira from CookingLSL

These Cherry Jam and Cream Cheese Pastries are sort, buttery and flakey. Filled with cherry jam and sweet cream cheese filling. Not overly sweet, perfect for breakfast or a coffee break. These pastries will also be perfect for a holiday gathering.

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 40 minutes mins

Servings: 20

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Ingredients 

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Cream cheese butter pastries

• ▢ 8 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ 2 6 oz packages softened unsalted butter, (226 gr)
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Filling

• ▢ Jam of your choice, (I used cherry, 1/2 jar)
• ▢ 8 oz softened cream cheese
• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions 

• In the bowl of a stand mixer beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy.
• Add flour and salt and mix until combined.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and divide in 4 parts. Shape 4 balls and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Prepare cream cheese filing by beating cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar in your mixer's bowl.
• Take dough out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.
• Dust working surface with powdered sugar and roll out each ball 1/4- 1/8 inch thick.
• Cut 3x3 inch squares. For pinwheel shape, using a pizza cutter, cut a 1 inch slit diagonally on each corner of the squares. Fill centers with 1/2 tsp jam and 1/2 tsp cream cheese filling. (You can use a pastry bag for a nicer presentation). Bring every other corner of dough together to center and press to seal.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer pastries to baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of space in between. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges are browned. (Baking time may vary, depending on ingredients, baking sheets and oven used).
• Cool on a cooling rack. Generously dust with powdered sugar.
• Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 275kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 49mg, Sodium: 108mg, Potassium: 62mg, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 590IU, Vitamin C: 1.5mg, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 0.8mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: bulgarian

Tried this recipe?Mention @cookinglsl or tag #cookinglsl!

Updated (12/12/16)

If you’d like to make these in the “Kolaches” shape, I’ve included a quick video to show you how to do it.

You make the same dough, cut into four pieces, wrap and refrigerate. Then roll into 15×15 cm and cut into 9 rectangles.

I filled these with Orange marmalade, but any jam (fruit filling) of your choice will be fine. I decided to skip the cree cheese filling with these.

Baking time is about 12 minutes.

Let me know, if any questions.