Cream Cheese Kolaches
This classic Czech treat, Cream Cheese Kolaches, is near and dear to my heart for many reasons.

As a kid, my family vacationed on the Texas coast. On our way down, we would always stop at the famous Bon Ton Cafe & Bakery in LaGrange for a kolache fix. While kolaches have a variety of fillings, including plums, apricots, poppyseeds and more, I could never pass up the cream cheese ones {cheese before fruit, right?}. They were delicious. And the entire box would be gone by the time we drove into the next county.

Sadly, as an adult, we don't get down that way much anymore. And I've dearly missed these treats. However, I recently came across a hand-written recipe card that remedied my lack of yeasty, Czechoslovakian deliciousness.
I was given an old recipe box when my great aunt passed away several years ago. It was stuffed with hundreds of hand-written recipes. It's moved with me from home to home, always finding a little nook to be displayed in.
A couple of years ago, I decided it would be fun to actually go through these recipes. And most of them were not written by my aunt, but by my uncle...a highly skilled, professional baker.

My Uncle Johnny was a baker at the Manhattan Cafe in San Antonio, Texas, from the 1930's through {we think} the 1970's, right before his death. He knew his way around a pie, and was well known for it. I thought the recipe box would be stuffed with just cake and pie recipes. And while I did find my fair share of those, I also came across a delightful little recipe for kolaches {along with one savory recipe that started with "half a cow"...but that's for a different blog post entirely}.
I've put my own spin on the kolache recipe below, modernizing it and using some delicious Rhodes Bake-N-Serv rolls as the base.
Ingredients:
Dough:
- 24 Rhodes White Dinner Rolls, thawed and risen slightly
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
- 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
Posipka (crumb topping):



Using the back of a good rounded spoon, make small wells in the tops of each roll. The butter on the rolls prevents the spoon from sticking to the dough. If it does stick, just butter the back of your spoon.

Put a tablespoon of filling into the well of each roll. Allow the rolls to rise again, for about 25-30 minutes.
Mix the posipka (crumb topping) ingredients together with a fork.

Sprinkle the topping onto each roll. Bake at 375 degrees for 17-23 minutes, watching carefully so they don't get too brown.


Cream Cheese Kolaches
Servings: | Skills: Beginning | Prep Time: 30 min (not including thaw time) | Bake Time: 17-23 min

Ingredients
Dough:
24 Rhodes White Dinner Rolls, thawed and risen slightly
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup raw, turbinado sugar (I prefer the texture of this, but if you can't find it, white sugar is fine)
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Posipka (crumb topping):
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup raw, turbinado sugar (again, this texture is awesome for topping)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Instructions
Allow the Rhodes White Dinner Rolls to double in size.
Brush the tops of them with melted butter and set aside for a few minutes while you make the filling.
To make the filling, mix the cream cheese, sugar, flour, egg yolk and vanilla with a mixer until well blended. Leave out, at room temperature, while you prep the rolls.
Using the back of a good rounded spoon, make small wells in the tops of each roll. The butter on the rolls prevents the spoon from sticking to the dough. If it does stick, just butter the back of your spoon.
Put a tablespoon of filling into the well of each roll. Allow the rolls to rise again, for about 25-30 minutes.
Mix the posipka (crumb topping) ingredients together with a fork.
Sprinkle the topping onto each roll. Bake at 375 degrees for 17-23 minutes, watching carefully so they don't get too brown. Serve warm! Makes 24 kolaches.
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