Mawmaw Novadad’s Kolaches, from Mom Ryan’s Recipe book

This is a recipe that produces a Kolache of the consistency of those at Weikels in LaGrange. It is a Czech recipe that is a couple of hundred years old brought from the old country by immigrants here in Texas. The only difference would be the quality of the ingredients and the ovens they were baked in. The dough consistency is the key, it should be very light and spongy and should almost melt in your mouth when fresh. The Kolaches dry out easily and should be stored in plastic after they cool. A simple brush of butter and warming will return them to near fresh baked consistency. This recipe does not use posipka (the crumb topping). See Carlyn’s modifications below for that version.

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 2 packages of dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 eggs beaten
• 4 cups of flour (more or less)
• Fruit filling or preserves as desired (see filling and posipka topping ingredients and instructions in Apricot Kolaches).

Heat sour cream until warm. Try 2 minutes on high in the microwave. Heat again if you still have lumps. Stir sugar, salt, and butter into the warm sour cream. Set aside to cool.

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a bowl and let stand until dissolved then add to sour cream mixture. Add eggs and flour to liquids and mix well. Dough does not need to be kneaded. If necessary work in extra flour to make the dough spongy and not sticky. Put dough in a large greased bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove dough from the refrigerator. Shape into balls about 1-1/2 inch in diameter (golf-ball to egg size). Place on greased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Let rise about 30 – 45 minutes; they do not change size very much this time. Make indentations with first 2 fingers of both hands in the middle of the Kolache ball.

Spoon in filling (this recipe recommended jam, but Carlyn uses dried fruit fillings). Cover filled kolaches with wax paper or cloth and let rise until double in bulk, about 30-45 minutes.

If using Posipka (crumb topping), press into the kolache filling and then bake.

Bake at 350° F until dough is cooked and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven. If you did not use posipka,  brush with butter for final touch.

Serve warm.

Store cooled kolaches in Ziploc bags in refrigerator (up to a week) or freezer. To reheat, wrap in damp paper towel and microwave 15 seconds.

Thanks to Barry Ribbeck at Rice University for finding this family recipe!

Carlyn Foshee Chatfield’s Notes and Modifications – 12/31/2014

After making this recipe several times, I wanted to make a few notes and recommend some modifications.  This kolache recipe – when made in Houston and Leakey, Texas, produces a kolache that is smaller and thinner than my mother’s recipe (see recipes for Apricot Kolaches and Cheese Kolaches)  but still tastes delicious.  The dough consistently turns out well and is easier for beginner cooks to master since it requires neither kneading nor rolling out and cutting.

Modifications

• Double the recipe and the size of the dough balls for a thicker (higher) roll; for the highest rising, lightest dough, use 2.5 packets of yeast for every 4 cups of flour.
• Use fillings from the Diane Foshee/Mami Baca recipes, such as Apricot Kolaches
• Dust with posipka (poe-SIP-kah) topping before baking:
  • 1 cup white, bleached or unbleached flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons butter (no substitutions)

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