Kolaches were a staple at my grandma's holiday table when I was a kid. Though she made them at one time, I mostly remember her buying them from the Czech bakery, thus I never witnessed the actual dough rising and forming of the kolache. I've tried a few recipes over time, and have settled on the one from the Schumacher cookbook. I have been working on perfecting this recipe for several holidays now: the right thickness to roll out the dough, the right pan and best amount of filling. I am getting closer!
Kolaches are a Czech roll - generally an egg-y yeast bread, filled with prune, poppy seed, or apricot filling (they vary depending on region, some are rolls, some are more open-faced). My family's filling of choice is prune - yum.
Makes 3-4 dozen
1 1/2 c. warm milk
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. shortening (butter works too)
7 T. sugar
3 egg yolks
2 T. yeast
5+ c. all-purpose flour
1 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
Heat milk, water and shortening in a saucepan until shortening is melted. (I've tried both grass-fed lard and butter, and I think the lard version is best. Also, I just learned that grass-fed lard has super high contents of vitamin D!) Cool until slightly warm. Add sugar, yolks, and yeast, stirring well. Place in a large bowl. Add salt, 2 c. flour, and stir well. Work in the rest of the flour to make a soft, but not sticky dough. Place on a lightly dusted board and let rest 5-10 minutes.
Knead well, until smooth and satiny (about 10 minutes). Work on a lightly floured surface (I end up adding in plenty of extra flour). Shape dough in a ball and place in a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours). Punch down and let rise again.
Grease muffin tins (or cookie sheet, but muffin tin gives a nicer shape). After dough's second rising, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. (*I find this part tricky and hedge on the side of a little thicker rather than thinner. I also split the dough in two so that I can work with smaller quantities.) Cut the rolled dough into 3" squares and drop a teaspoon of your fave filling in the middle of each. (I use two spoons to do this, a la cookie making.) See prune filling recipe below.
Fold kolaches by bringing one corner to the center, than overlapping the opposite corner, then add the 3rd corner, and finally the 4th so that all 4 corners overlap in the middle. I like to leave tiny little gaps where you can see there might be something inside, but some people fold the dough with a lot of overlap so it is totally enclosed. Place each kolache in the muffin tin as you go. Brush with melted butter and let rise another 45 minutes.
Bake in a 350 degree over for 15-20 minutes until browned. Brush tops while still warm with a mixture of 1/4 c. powdered sugar and 1/4 c. whipping cream. (Sometimes I skip that step - but it does make a nice glaze when dry.) Cool on rack. (*Schumacher's original recipe says to bake at 375 for 25 minutes, but I have burned mine twice this way...which could be that my oven runs hot, but I don't think so.)
Prune filling:
2 c. pitted prunes
1 c. orange juice
1 c. water
2 T. sugar
3 t. grated orange rind
Chop the fruit up and mix with the OJ, water, and sugar in a saucepan over medium low heat until it becomes thick and the fruit has become more like a thick paste. Stir in the rind. *I have also had good results by replacing the sugar and rind with a teaspoon of cinnamon instead.
