This recipe has been modified for Texpats who miss the kolache flavors of home but do not have much experience baking with yeast. The first time you make kolaches, try using all-fruit preserves from the store for your fillings. You need 1 Tablespoon of filling for each kolache. After you are confident of your dough, try making homemade fillings the next time.
You must have a hot water or candy thermometer to test the water for yeast. Temperature of 110° F to 120 ° F is ideal. Water that is too hot kills the yeast, and water that is not hot enough will not prompt your yeast to rise.
Overnight Kolache Dough
Make the night before you plan to bake kolaches
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3 packages of dry yeast, plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water – 110-120° F (measure with baker’s thermometer)
- 2 eggs beaten
- 4-5 cups of flour
Heat sour cream in microwave oven on high for 2 minutes. Stir in 2/3 cup sugar plus the salt and butter. Set aside to cool.
Sprinkle yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar over warm water in a bowl and let stand until yeast gets “puffy” – this is called “proofing” your yeast.
Add eggs to 4 cups of flour and mix well, using hands, mixer, or sturdy spatula. This dough does not need to be kneaded.
Add proofed yeast to sour cream mixture, then pour the warm liquids into the egg dough.
Combine thoroughly, add 1/2 cup to 1 cup more flour to make the dough “spongy” instead of “sticky.”
Grease a large bowl with shortening or Pam and turn the spongy dough mass into the bowl. Spray with Pam, cover and refrigerate overnight. It doesn’t look very pretty, and that is okay.
Posipka
Make Posipka (Poe-SIP-kah) crumb topping the day or week before baking kolaches and refrigerate.
- 1 cup white, bleached or unbleached flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons butter (no substitutions)
Using a pastry blender or your fingers, crumble the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a topping that resembles cornmeal in texture. Refrigerate until you are ready to bake the kolaches.
Filling
Use preserves, or make fillings one day to one week before baking kolaches.
If you choose to make a filling, each of the kolache recipes on this blog makes enough filling for about 4 dozen kolaches, or one batch of dough. If you want a variety of kolache flavors, make 2-3 fruit fillings several days ahead and refrigerate them until you are ready to bake the kolaches. Make the cheese or lemon filling the night before you bake kolaches.
Day of baking…
On the day of baking and serving
Heat oven to 350° F. Remove dough from the refrigerator.
Shape into balls about the size of golf-balls or eggs. Place each roll on a greased cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart.
Let rise about 30 – 45 minutes; they do not change size very much this time.
Make indentations in each roll with first 2 fingers of both hands, creating a shape that looks like a baby swimming pool – flat on the bottom with rimmed sides.
Spoon in slightly less than 1 Tablespoon of filling for each roll. Top with 1 Tablespoon posipka.
Cover with wax paper or cloth and let rise 30 more minutes.
Bake at 350° F until dough is cooked and golden brown on bottom – about 15-17 minutes.
Step-by-step photos:
