Sweet Cheese-Filled Pastries (Shavuot Dairy Pastry)

Light, fluffy, and filled with creamy vanilla cheese, these sweet cheese pastries are a nostalgic bakery favorite and a perfect treat for Shavuot. This easy yeast dough wraps around a vanilla skyr-based filling that’s gently sweet and protein-rich. Whether you're baking for a holiday table or a cozy weekend brunch, these pastries are guaranteed to bring smiles.

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Recipe

Servings: 12 pastries

Calories per serving: ~220

Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes (includes rising and baking)

Sweet Cheese-Filled Pastries (Shavuot Dairy Pastry)

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (460g)

• ¼ cup sugar (50g)

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup warm milk (180ml)

• 1 large egg

• 1 egg yolk

• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened (60g)

For the cheese filling:

• ¾ cup vanilla skyr (200g)

• 1 egg yolk

• 2 tablespoons sugar (adjust to taste)

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch or vanilla pudding powder

• Optional: zest of ½ lemon or a drop of vanilla extract

For brushing:

• 1 beaten egg

• Optional: powdered sugar or sugar syrup (½ cup sugar + ½ cup water, boiled for 2 minutes)

Instructions

1. Activate the yeast: In a small bowl, stir active dry yeast into warm milk with a pinch of sugar. Let it sit for 10 minutes until foamy.

2. Make the dough: In a large bowl or mixer, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add the milk-yeast mixture, egg, and egg yolk. Mix until combined. Gradually add the softened butter and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Cover and let rise for 1–1.5 hours until doubled.

3. Prepare the filling: In a bowl, mix vanilla skyr, egg yolk, sugar, cornstarch, and optional lemon zest. Stir until smooth and let sit for 5 minutes to firm slightly.

4. Shape the pastries: Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 0.5 cm thickness. Cut into 10–12 squares (about 10x10 cm). Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each square. Fold the corners toward the center and pinch closed.

5. Second rise: Place shaped pastries on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 30–40 minutes.

6. Bake: Preheat oven to 340°F (170°C). Brush each pastry with beaten egg. Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

7. Finish: While still warm, optionally brush with sugar syrup or dust with powdered sugar once cooled.

Nutrition (per pastry)

• Calories: 220

• Protein: 6g

• Carbohydrates: 30g

• Fat: 8g

• Sugar: 9g

• Sodium: 120mg

• Calcium: 80mg

Storage Instructions

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerate for 4–5 days. Reheat briefly in the oven or microwave. These pastries also freeze well for up to 1 month. Thaw and warm before serving for best texture.

Activate the yeast

Ingredients for dough

Make the dough

Make the dough

Make the Dough

Prepare the filling

Prepare the filling

Shape the pastries

Shape the pastries

Second rise

Bake

Optional syrup finish - before

Optional syrup finish - after

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Prompt

Here's how I prompted the recipe for Sweet Cheese-Filled Pastries (Shavuot Dairy Pastry Recipe):

With Shavuot tomorrow, I wanted to make something cheesy and sweet. I had a thought about a childhood pastry and I wanted the help of ChatGPT so I asked for it:

עוגת שמרים גבינה. Can you provide recipe?

It responded:

Certainly! Here's a recipe for a classic עוגת שמרים גבינה (Yeast Cake with Sweet Cheese Filling) — a beloved Israeli-style cake that's soft, lightly sweet, and perfect with coffee or tea.

🥮 עוגת שמרים גבינה – Yeast Cake with Cheese Filling

📝 Ingredients

For the Dough:

• 3 ½ cups (490g) all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp active dry yeast (or 25g fresh yeast)

• ½ tsp salt

• ¾ cup (180ml) milk, lukewarm

• 1 large egg

• 1 egg yolk

• 80g (⅓ cup) unsalted butter, softened

For the Cheese Filling:

• 250g (about 1 cup) Israeli gvina levana 5% or ricotta cheese

• 100g (½ cup) cream cheese (or another 100g gvina levana)

• ⅓ cup (65g) sugar

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• Zest of ½ lemon (optional but recommended)

• 1 tbsp cornstarch or instant vanilla pudding powder

For Brushing:

• 1 beaten egg

• Optional: powdered sugar or sugar syrup for finishing

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Dough

1. In a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer), combine flour, sugar, and salt.

2. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Let sit for 5–10 minutes if using active dry yeast (skip if using fresh yeast directly into the flour).

3. Add the milk-yeast mixture, egg, and egg yolk to the flour.

4. Knead for 5 minutes, then add the softened butter gradually.

5. Knead for another 5–10 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic.

6. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1–1.5 hours, until doubled in size.

Step 2: Make the Cheese Filling

1. Mix together all filling ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

Step 3: Assemble the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F).

2. Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle (~40x30 cm).

3. Spread the cheese filling evenly over the dough.

4. Roll the dough into a log from the long side. Cut in half lengthwise and twist the two halves together like a braid (cheese side up).

5. Place in a greased loaf pan or round pan, or form a free-standing twisted loaf on parchment paper.

6. Let rise again for 30 minutes.

Step 4: Bake and Finish

1. Brush with beaten egg.

2. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until golden brown and fully baked.

3. Optional: Brush with simple syrup (1:1 sugar-water boiled for 2 min) or dust with powdered sugar once cooled.

🍽️ Serving Ideas

• Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

• Perfect with coffee, tea, or a glass of cold milk.

• Can be frozen in slices and reheated gently.

🧾 Nutrition (per slice, based on 12 slices)

• Calories: ~270

• Protein: 7g

• Carbs: 33g

• Fat: 12g

• Saturated fat: 7g

• Sugar: 11g

• Sodium: 150mg

• Calcium: ~90mg

Would you like this recipe with enhanced SEO/schema markup or a Hebrew version as well?

I had so much homemade Skyr leftover, so I wanted to use it:

Can I use vanilla yogurt?

It said yes, but:

Yes, you can use vanilla yogurt in the cheese filling, but with a few adjustments:

✅ How to use it:

• Replace part of the gvina levana or ricotta with vanilla yogurt — up to 100g (about ⅓ cup).

• Since yogurt is looser and wetter than gvina levana or cream cheese, add an extra tablespoon of cornstarch or pudding powder to stabilize the filling.

• Taste your filling before adding sugar — vanilla yogurt is already sweetened, so you may want to reduce the sugar slightly (e.g., from ⅓ cup to 3 tbsp).

🧁 Updated Filling Option:

• 150g gvina levana or ricotta

• 100g vanilla yogurt

• 50–70g cream cheese (optional for creaminess)

• 1 egg yolk

• 2–3 tbsp sugar (taste and adjust)

• 1½ tbsp cornstarch or vanilla pudding powder

• Vanilla extract (optional if yogurt is strongly flavored)

• Lemon zest (still recommended for balance)

Let me know if you want a version of the recipe fully adapted to use yogurt instead of gvina or cream cheese!

I had some limitations, but I felt like my Skyr would suffice so I said:

My yogurt is skyr and not runny. I don't have ricotta or gvina levana

It suggested adaptations:

Perfect — if you're using vanilla skyr, you're actually in great shape. Skyr is thick, creamy, high in protein, and will behave more like cream cheese or gvina levana than regular yogurt.

Here’s how to adapt the cheese filling using just vanilla skyr and ingredients you likely have:

🧁 Adapted Cheese Filling Using Skyr

• 200g vanilla skyr (about ¾ cup)

• 1 egg yolk

• 2–3 tbsp sugar (taste first — vanilla skyr may already be sweet enough)

• 1 tbsp cornstarch or instant vanilla pudding powder (for stability)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional, enhances flavor)

• Zest of ½ lemon (optional but adds brightness)

Instructions:

1. Stir everything together in a bowl until smooth.

2. Let it sit for 5 minutes to hydrate the cornstarch.

3. Spread over rolled dough as directed.

This version will give you a slightly lighter, tangy-sweet filling — still rich and creamy, and it holds up beautifully after baking.

Would you like me to rewrite the full recipe with this skyr-based filling for you?

I then changed my mind and decided I want to make individual pastries. I asked:

I actually want gviniyot (גביניות) I had them in the local bakery as a child and miss them. Can you adjust with active dry yeast and the vanilla skyr?

Scroll to the top or click below for the final recipe

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