If you're craving homemade pastries to go with your tea but don't plan on spending half a day in the kitchen, it's worth bookmarking this recipe for kefir croissants with a cherry filling. Styler, part of the RBC-Ukraine media project, shared a detailed description of how to make these tender croissants — which melt in your mouth and pair perfectly with a hot drink — citing the Oksik Cooks Facebook page. The soft kefir dough is easy to shape, and you can add a filling of your choice inside — from cherries to thick jam or fruit preserve. Most of the ingredients are probably already in any kitchen, making the recipe accessible for home baking on any day of the week.
Simple Kefir Dough: Minimal Ingredients, Maximum Softness
The base of these croissants requires no complex techniques or rare ingredients. For the dough, you need to combine one egg, sugar, a pinch of salt, kefir, and melted butter. Then flour and baking powder are added to the mixture, and the dough is kneaded until it forms a soft, pliable ball. It is precisely the kefir combined with the baking powder that delivers that airy texture which is hard to achieve with yeast dough in a short time. The finished dough is divided into four roughly equal parts, each of which is rolled out into a round disc and cut into eight triangles. This way, a single batch of dough yields up to thirty-two croissant blanks.
Cherry Filling and a Tip from a Renowned Ukrainian Cook
In this version, cherries are used as the filling, although Styler notes that any alternative is acceptable: thick jam, fruit preserve, or another favorite filling. The editors also highlight an important practical tip: to prevent the filling from leaking during baking, it's worth following the advice of renowned Ukrainian cook Yevhen Klopotenko. He recommends using a thick filling, and if you're using juicy berries, such as cherries, thicken them with a small amount of starch. It's also important not to put too much filling on each triangle and to roll the croissants tightly so that the contents stay inside during baking.
Shaping and Baking: 20–25 Minutes to a Golden Crust
Shaping the croissants takes minimal time: a small amount of filling is placed on the wide part of each triangle, after which the dough is carefully rolled from the wide edge to the narrow one, forming the classic crescent shape. The blanks are placed on a baking sheet and sent into an oven preheated to 180 degrees. The croissants bake for about 20–25 minutes, until they achieve an even golden color. The finished pastries can optionally be dusted with powdered sugar, which gives them a festive look and an extra touch of sweetness. It's best to serve the croissants with tea or coffee once they have cooled slightly and the filling has fully set.
Context: Croissants as Part of the Ukrainian Baking Tradition
Croissants are one of the most recognizable types of homemade pastry in the Ukrainian culinary tradition. Ukrainian media regularly publish variations of this dessert: from classic lard croissants in a "childhood" style, which Unian describes as a childhood memory, to fruit-preserve croissants made from three elementary recipes. Styler's kefir-based recipe fits into this tradition, offering a quick and accessible option for those who value homemade flavor but aren't ready to spend hours kneading yeast dough. The combination of the kefir's tang, buttery softness, and sweet-tart cherries makes these croissants a versatile dessert for morning coffee or evening tea.
