Gluten-Free Kolaches

gluten-free and lactose-free kolachesThinking of a student in my O-week group who can’t have dairy products made me want to try a kolache recipe so they can enjoy this local favorite. Another student eats gluten-free food, so I wondered if I could make a kolache – essentially a yeasty wheat bread made with milk and butter – both gluten-free and lactose-free. The answer is…. yes! But it isn’t vegan. The eggs are still necessary for texture and binding.

Like all hand-made yeast breads, this recipe takes a long time. On a kolache weekend, I set up to bake 10-12 dozen kolaches by making the fillings Friday night. Dough preparation begins on Saturday morning and the first batch of kolaches are baking around lunch on Saturday. All available kitchen surfaces in are filled with kolaches in various stages through Saturday evening. If I still have fillings left over, I’ll make the final batch Sunday morning before church.

Important kitchen tools: Use a candy thermometer to make sure the water reaches the right temperature to activate the yeast. I also use a Sunbeam mix-master with dough hooks so I don’t have to knead each batch if I am making 4-6 batches of dough over a weekend. Also, you need a warm spot that is free of drafts for your dough to rise. I usually turn on my oven to low then let my dough arise in the corner of my counter by the warm oven.

Cinnamon Pear Lactose-free and Gluten-free Kolaches

  • 1 cup hot water (110-120° F)
  • 2 packages Fleishman’s active dry yeast
  • 1/3 Cup plus 7 Tablespoons sugar (divided use)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups gluten-free Bisquik
  • 4 cups gluten-free King Arthur flour (divided use)
  • 2 cups lactose free milk (whole or 2% works best)
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • Pre-made fruit filling such as Cinnamon Pear (for other flavors, see Kolache Fillings)
    • 12 oz (2-1/2 cups) dried pear halves
    • 2-4 cups water
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pam or other vegetable oil spray
  • Muffin pans and cups for liners

PROOF YEAST:

Heat 1 cup water to 110-120°F, sprinkle yeast and 2 Tablespoons of sugar over hot water, stir to mix the ingredients and set aside in a warm spot that is free of drafts. This is called “proofing” the yeast. If it doesn’t bubble up significantly over the next 5 minutes, your bread dough will not rise.

MAKE SPONGE:

Blend 4 cups of gluten-free Bisquik, 2 cups of gluten-free flour, and 1 teaspoon salt. Measure 1-3/4 cups of this blend into a large bowl that can hold about 10 cups of dough. Add the proofed yeast to the 1-3/4 cup flour blend and stir to reach a sticky dough lump. This is called a “sponge.” Save the remaining flour and Bisquik blend for second dough stage.

FIRST DOUGH RISING:

Cover with the bowl containing the bread sponge with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place, free of drafts, for 1 hour.

Scald milk: heat 2 cups lactose-free milk in microwave safe container for 2-1/2 minutes on 50% power. Stir. Heat the milk for 2 minutes more on full power. Add 1/2 cup vegan buttery stick and stir to melt in the hot milk. Set aside to cool and use in second bread stage.

MAKE FILLING:

Using kitchen scissors, a food processor or a knife, cut or chop the pear halves into small pieces. Bring 2 cups of water and all the chopped dried pears to a boil in a 3-quart sauce pan over high heat. After the fruit has boiled for about 3 minutes, reduce heat to medium-high and add 1/4-1/2 cup of water each time the water level reaches the level of the simmering fruit. Stir often to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom. Continue cooking and adding water until the fruit is become soft. Reduce heat to low and stir every 30-60 seconds while the fruit finishes cooking and absorbing the last of the water in the pot. Remove from heat, add the sugar and cinnamon and stir to blend. Set aside to cool and thicken. Can be made several days ahead of time and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

 

SECOND DOUGH RISING:

Add 2 beaten eggs to cooled scalded milk and vegan spread. Mix well. Add this liquid to the bowl with the sponge and begin kneading in bowl or mixing with dough hooks. Add the rest of the flour and Bisquik blend, 1 cup at a time. Continue beating with dough hooks until all the flour is worked into the dough.

Use Pam or other vegetable spray to coat a large bowl that can accommodate 2-3 times your quantity of prepared dough. Turn the dough into the bowl, spray the dough with Pam, and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap (you can re-use the same cover from the first rising). Set aside to rise 1 hour in a warm spot, free of drafts.

MAKE POSIPKA:

Posipka (poe-SIP-kah) is a crumb topping sprinkled over kolaches just before baking. Mix 1 cup gluten-free flour, 3/4 cup sugar, and 2 Tablespoons softened vegan buttery stick until you have a coarse meal. Can be made ahead of time and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

PREPARE PANS:

This recipe makes 4-5 dozen kolaches. The baking goes very fast, so it is best to have 4-5 muffin pans prepped and ready to go. Spray muffin tins with Pam or other vegetable oil. Line tins with cups and spray the cups with Pam.

MAKE KOLACHES:

Prepare a pastry mat by scattering 1 cup of gluten-free flour in an 8-9-inch circle. Scoop about 2-3 cups of dough out of the bowl after the second rising and place on flour. Work the extra flour into the dough to make it less sticky and roll clumps of dough into balls a little larger than golf-balls. Place each ball of dough into a lined muffin cup. When you run out of dough, scatter more flour on the pastry mat and pull out another 2-3 cups of dough, working in the flour and making dough balls. Repeat until all the dough has been used.

Punch 3-4 fingers down into each ball in its muffin cup to make a deep indention or well. Add 1-1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of filling to each kolache ball and press the filling down into the well with two fingers. When a tray has been filled, set aside to rise.

THIRD RISING:

Allow filled kolaches to rise for 30 minutes before baking. Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

ADD POSIPKA AND BAKE:

Add 1 Tablespoon of posipka to the top of each kolache and press the center of the posipka mound down into the filling with two fingers. Bake each tin of kolaches for 12-14 minutes at 400° F. Check at 12 minutes; remove before the visible dough turns brown.

Take muffin tin out of the oven, and begin cooling. As soon as you can safely handle the hot muffin tin, ease the kolaches out of the muffin tins to keep them from baking further. This is where the paper liners come in handy. A dinner knife can also help loosen the kolaches from the muffin tins. Before the kolaches have cooled completely, remove the paper liners.

Makes 4-5 dozen kolaches.