Grandmas German Kolaches Recipes

HOMEMADE KOLACHES

Steps:

• Add the lukewarm milk, sugar, cooled butter, eggs, and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix everything together using the paddle attachment.
• Add 4½ cups flour and salt to the mixture. Mix on low just until the dough starts to come together. Use your hands to remove the dough from the paddle attachment. Remove the paddle and replace it with the dough hook. Mix (knead) on medium for 6 to 7 minutes until the dough is soft and is starting to pull away from the bowl, adding another ¼ to ½ cup of flour as needed.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and smooth it into a ball with your hands. The dough will be quite sticky. This is normal. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Turn the dough over to coat with oil all over. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, non-drafty area until it has doubled in size, usually about 2 hours. Or, place in the refrigerator for overnight or up to 12 hours.
• On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to ½-inch thickness.
• Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, or an inverted metal can, or an inverted glass, cut rounds from the dough. Re-roll the scraps, and cut more rounds.
• Place each round on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other, cover with a damp towel and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Using your thumb, press 1 large indention into the center of each round, leaving a 1/2-inch wide rim. Spoon about 1 tablespoon topping into the indentions.
• Bake until golden brown, about 15 to 25 minutes (depending on the size of the kolaches).
• Transfer to a wire rack and let cool
• In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar and mix until smooth. (A hand mixer works well).
• Beat in the yolk and vanilla.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon.
• Add the blueberries and lemon juice and cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened, about 8 minutes. Let cool.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch.
• Stir in the reserved cherry juices and cook, stirring often, over medium heat, until the mixture thickens, about 8 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the cherries. Let cool.

GRANDMA'S GERMAN KOLACHES

Steps:

• Mix 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, yeast, and salt. Add 1.5 cups of hot water (but not boiling). Beat this and then add eggs, mixing. Add the other 3 cups of flour.
• Knead until smooth and satiny, about 8 to 10 minutes. Form into a ball.
• Lightly grease a large bowl (at least twice as large as your ball of dough). Put the dough round side down in the greased bowl, then turn over so that the greased side is up. Cover with a slightly damp towel. Put in a warm place (or as warm as you have in the winter, but not a lit oven). Let it rise until doubled, about 75 minutes. You don't want to leave the dough too long, however. Dough can actually over-rise.
• Punch down the dough. Reshape into a ball. Recover bowl. Let rise till double. It should take less time this time around, but it varies -- maybe 45 - 60 minutes. All of these rises can take longer if your house is cold.
• If using a prune filling, simmer them with some water until soft; mash thoroughly. Let cool.
• If desiring an apricot filling but not having access to canned Solo filling, you can make it out of dried apricots. Snip 3/4 cups of dried apricots into small pieces. Simmer,covered, with 1-1/2 cups water for 10 minutes. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes more. Stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Let cool before using.
• Pinch off balls of dough about 1.5 inches in diameter. Pat out into a circle. Put a spoonful of filling inside. Fold over and seal. Put in pan. Parchment-lined cookie sheets work well. The recipe doesn't say it, but I'd leave some room between them because they'll grow during the next rise -- yep, let rise again. This rise should be 45 - 60 minutes.
• Make topping: crumble together 1.25 cups flour, sugar and butter.
• Make a groove in the center of each and put on a big pinch of topping. Bake at 350°F until nicely golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
• NOTE: This is how my recipe card reads; however, I swear that I remember her making them the following way. Pinch off the ball of dough. Make an indentation in it. Fill with a spoonful of the filling. Sprinkle topping on it before baking.

GRANDMA SKEET'S PRUNE KOLACHES

Steps:

• Place the warm water, salt, egg and 2 tablespoons butter in the pan of a bread machine. Add bread flour, and pour 1/4 cup sugar on the edge of the pan. Make a shallow hole in the flour and add the yeast. Close the lid, and set machine for the DOUGH cycle.
• While the dough is mixing, combine the prunes, prune juice, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, cloves and lime juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer until prunes are soft and the sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and blend in a mixer or food processor until smooth.
• When the bread machine signals the end of the dough cycle, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 20 small egg-sized pieces. Cover with greased plastic wrap, and set aside for 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour. Stir in melted butter and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to make a crumbly streusel.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a large baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
• Shape the kolache dough into balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Press a shallow hole in the center of each one, and fill with prune filling. Top each of the kolaches with streusel. Let the kolaches rest until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.
• Bake until the tops are lightly browned, 14 to 16 minutes.

GERMAN STYLE KOLACHES

Steps:

• In large mixing bowl pour hot water sprinkle yeast over hot water. Set aside. Heat milk until very warm to touch, add sugar and salt to mild. Stir until sugar is dissolved, add eggs and oil to milk mixture. Stir well. Pour milk into yeast in bowl and stir.
• Pour in 2 cups flour and mix well. Beat to remove lumps. Continue to add 2 cups flour at a time and mix well after addition. Cover with cloth, sit in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour or until double in bulk.
• Pour 1/2 dough onto floured board roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Place mini-cocktail franks or ground sausage onto one circle, top with the second circle and press edges together with fork.
• Place in greased baking sheet one inch apart. Brush tops with oil. Let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 375ºF. for 15 minutes or until brown. Brush top with butter. Serve warm.

BOHEMIAN KOLACHES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in warm milk; let stand 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, remaining sugar, egg yolks, salt, butter and yeast/milk mixture. Mix until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. , Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Add additional flour if necessary. Place dough in greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down and allow to rise again. Roll out on floured surface to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut with large glass or 2-1/2-in. cutter. Place on greased baking sheets; let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. , Firmly press indentation in center and fill each roll with a heaping tablespoon of filling. Brush dough with egg white. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until rolls are light golden brown.

GRANDMA OLGA'S KOLACKY

Steps:

• In a bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water, and stir in the yeast. Let stand until the yeast forms a creamy layer, about 5 minutes. In another bowl, mix the flour and margarine until well blended, and stir in the egg yolks, one at a time. Mix in the yeast mixture until incorporated, then stir in the sour cream to make a soft but not sticky dough. Cut the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces, cover with a cloth, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.
• Working on a floured work surface, roll out one of the dough balls into a square about 6x8 inches, about 1/8-inch thick. Keep the other pieces of dough refrigerated. With a pastry cutter or pizza roller, cut the square into 12 smaller squares about 2 inches on a side. Place about 2 teaspoons of fruit filling in the middle of each square, and fold two opposite corners of dough together to meet in the center. Pinch the corners together to partially enclose the filling. Place the filled kolacky on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies begin to turn golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes before removing them to wire racks to finish cooling. Sprinkle the kolacky with confectioners' sugar.