Quick Kolacky Recipes

EASY KOLACKY

Steps:

• Place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl; beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar into the butter mixture. Slowly beat in the flour; mix well. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• On a well floured board, roll out chilled dough to 1/8 inch. Use a pizza wheel to cut dough into 2 1/2 inch squares. Spoon approximately 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each square; do not overfill. Fold opposite corners of each square into the middle to encase dough, pinching dough together in center. Filling should peek out a little at each end. Transfer cookies to an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake the kolacky in the preheated oven until set but not brown, about 12 minutes. Remove to racks to cool. Dust cooled kolacky with remaining powdered sugar.

QUICK KOLACKY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, butter or margarine, sugar, sour cream and eggs. Knead until dough is smooth.
• Sprinkle a work surface generously with confectioners' sugar. Roll dough out over the confectioners' sugar to 1/4 inch thick, adding more as needed. Cut out into 3 inch squares and fill with nut, poppyseed or prune filling.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

MARTHA'S KOLACHES

Steps:

• Cookies:In a small bowl, stir together yeast and sour cream. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes. Whisk in eggs until smooth.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in yeast mixture. Knead in bowl a few times until dough is smooth and comes together. Wrap dough in plastic and flatten into a square. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3-inch square cutter, cut out squares. Transfer to two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Place 1 teaspoon jam in the center of each square. Fold upper-right corner over filling, about two-thirds of the way toward opposite corner; press down to seal. Brush lower-left corner with egg wash, then fold corner up and over first fold, pressing down to adhere. (Be careful not to fold too tightly, or you may force out some of the filling.) Repeat with remaining squares.
• Bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.
• Glaze:In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and butter. While whisking, drizzle in milk, a little at a time, until glaze has a runny consistency. Using a spoon, drizzle glaze over cookies. Let stand until set, 1 hour. Glazed cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

CREAM CHEESE KOLACKY

Steps:

• Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add flour slowly until well blended. Shape into a ball and chill overnight or for several hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Roll dough out 1/8 inch thick on a floured pastry board. Cut into 2 1/2 inch squares and place about 1/2 teaspoon jam or preserves in the center. Overlap opposite corners and pinch together. Place on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool on wire racks. Sprinkle kolacky lightly with confectioner's sugar.

CHEATER ALMOST KOLACHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Either mix up a batch of your favorite biscuit dough and cut into 16 pieces or open a can of biscuits (the flaky kind is my favorite) and separate each biscuit into half (this should give you 16 biscuit halves).
• Take the 2 slices of cheese, cut each into 4 strips, and then cut those in half the other direction, giving you 16 short strips.
• Place 1 strip of cheese and 1 sausage onto each biscuit piece and wrap dough around them. Place seam side down on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Brush the tops with melted butter and serve warm.
• You can of course, substitute any of your favorite kolache fillings.

QUICK KOLACKY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, butter or margarine, sugar, sour cream and eggs. Knead until dough is smooth.
• Sprinkle a work surface generously with confectioners' sugar. Roll dough out over the confectioners' sugar to 1/4 inch thick, adding more as needed. Cut out into 3 inch squares and fill with nut, poppyseed or prune filling.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Enjoy!