Kolache-coo....

One of the things I didn't really appreciate about Texas until I moved away was the food. I mean, I knew that the Tex-Mex was second-to-none, and growing up on the Gulf Coast has forever spoiled me for fresh shrimp and other seafood. But, sometimes you don't really appreciate how special or unique something is when you have access to it every day. My vacation in Texas this past fall really brought that home for me, and that trip has been a source of culinary inspiration for yet another post.

The central region of Texas, roughly encompassing the area from San Antonio to just north and west of Austin, was settled back in the early and mid 1800's by immigrants from Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Their influence is felt in the names of the towns (New Braunfels and Fredericksburg, for example) and also in the cuisine. German and Czech bakeries are found all through this region, and there is one traditional Czech pastry that has become a staple in the state: the kolache.

Kolaches are made from a tender, buttery yeast dough, and can either be baked with sweet fruit and cream cheese toppings, or filled with savory meats and cheeses. There is some debate whether the savory versions can truly be called kolaches since the original Czech version was only made with sweet fillings. But, I think of it like Tex-Mex food--it's not truly Mexican, it's the hybrid that evolved in Texas. So, maybe kolaches are really Tex-Czech?

I've spent quite a few weeks working on this recipe, I wanted to get the dough right. I started with my mom's recipe for yeast rolls--the dough in the kolaches reminded me a lot of my mom's yummy rolls. But, it wasn't quite right. Kolache dough was more buttery and richer, almost approaching a French brioche. So, I kept tinkering with it, adding more butter, enriching the dough with an extra egg yolk, using all milk instead of water. This version, I think, hits it just right.

Kolache Pastry Dough

Makes about 16 fruit-filled kolaches, meat-filled kolaches, or dinner rolls

1 packet active dry yeast
1 cup whole milk, warm
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional for brushing
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt

Mix the yeast and warm milk together in a small bowl. Allow the yeast to fully hydrate in the milk for about 10 minutes. You should begin to see bubbles forming on the top of the milk.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, egg and yolk until well blended. Mix in the milk and yeast mixture.

Mix together the flour and salt and place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the wet ingredients to the mixer bowl and turn the machine on low speed. Mix until dough comes together into a smooth ball and is springy to the touch, about 5 to 7 minutes. 

Transfer the dough from the mixer bowl to a large, buttered stainless steel or glass bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. 

Remove the plastic wrap and punch down the dough. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise a second time, for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 °F.

To make fruit-filled kolaches:

Divide the dough into 16 pieces, and roll each piece into a round ball. Evenly space the round balls onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Using the back of a spoon, make a circular indentation in the center of each ball. 

Fill each indentation with a spoonful of fruit jam or preserves, cream cheese filling (recipe follows), or a combination of the two. Brush the kolaches with melted butter and bake until golden brown, about 14 to 16 minutes.

For the kolaches in the picture above, I used Red Plum Jam (8/27/16) and Chardonnay Vanilla Bean Apple Butter (10/23/15). For the kolaches that used the cream cheese filling, I topped half of them with Brandied Cherries (6/26/15), and the other half with Peach and Vanilla Bean Jam (9/9/15). The recipes for all of these fruit preserves are from this blog, and the dates in parenthesis are the posting dates where you can find them.

Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Place all of the ingredients into a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until smooth.

To make meat-filled kolaches:

Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. Stretch the dough ball into a flat oval, using your thumbs to make an indentation along the length of the oval. Place a cooked and cooled breakfast sausage or cooked and crumbled bacon into the indentation and top with cheddar cheese. Fold the edges of the dough to enclose the filling, pinching along the seam to seal. 

Place the filled kolaches onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam side down. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes.

To make dinner rolls:

Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. Brush the cups of a muffin tin with melted butter and place a dough ball into each prepared muffin cup. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes.