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We are now at the breakfast portion of this month's Cooking with Astrology "Aquarius" meal. There are three main foods that everyone talks about when you move to Iowa; pork tenderloins, Maidrite (loose meat) sandwiches, and Traditional Kolaches! They even have a Kolache Festival every year where you will find thousands of Kolache for sale.
As soon as I chose Ashton Kutcher as the inspiration for this meal, I knew I HAD to make Traditional Czech Kolaches! My favorite flavors are pineapple, apricot, and apple, but I didn't want to make my own fillings. I knew blueberry was a must, and the apricot preserves where sitting on the shelf right next to them.
What are Kolaches?
Kolaches are a bread "wheel" filled with a sweet filling. Their texture is very similar to a brioche bread. Traditional fillings include; prune, poppy seed, nut, cottage cheese, pineapple, apricot, apple, cherry, and plum. Pretty much any flavor you can think of! 🙂
How to make Kolaches:
First you will need to proof your yeast in warm water and a teaspoon of sugar.....
Poof, it foams up and we know that the yeast is still alive!
Pour the warm milk, sugar, yeast, and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer.....or a large bowl if you are doing this by hand.....
add 2 cups of flour and salt, and mix together.....
add the beaten egg yolks and remaining flour.....
Mix until thoroughly combined.....
Place in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm location until doubled. My mixer has a lid, so I skip the bowl.....
See, nice a puffy after about an hour.....
Divide into 24 balls and place on a baking sheet.....
Dip your finger or thumb in cooled, melted butter and form "wells" into each dough ball.....
Fill each "well" with fruit preserves and let sit for 15 minutes.....
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, remove from oven, and brush edges with butter.....
Allow to cool and serve.
I hope everyone enjoyed this month's meal as much as I did. I love learning about new cultures and trying new foods!
Recipes for this month's Aquarius meal:
- Milky Way Martini
- Aquarius Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette
- Chicken Paprikash
- Galactic Brownies
Enjoy!!
Kolaches
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water 110 degrees
- 1 1/2 cups warm milk 110 degrees - I used coconut milk
- 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 large egg yolks beaten
- 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- all-natural fruit preserves I used blueberry and apricot
- 2 - 3 Tablespoons melted butter for brushing tops
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix warm water with yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Set aside and allow to bubble.
- Pour milk into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add sugar, butter, and yeast.
- Mix in flour and salt.
- Add beaten egg yolks and remaining flour. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Place dough into a large, greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm location until doubled in size.
- Divide dough into 24 equal balls and place onto a silpat/parchment covered baking sheet.
- Dip thumb into cooled, melted butter and make a "well" in the top of each of the balls.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Fill with fruit preserves and let rise for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and brush top of bread surface with butter.
Notes
- The traditional fillings for Czech Kolaches are: prune, plum, poppy seed, cottage cheese, pineapple, nut, cherry, blueberry, apricot, and apple.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
JaimeLovesStuff.com says
Oh my goodness... I love Kolaches! I wish I had one of yours right now! Yum!
Happy Valley Chow says
I've never had kolaches, but they sound delicious! Are they sorta like a danish? If they are I'm sure I would love these 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Lisa Johnson says
Yes, they are kinda like a danish Eric. They are just smaller, which is a good thing, and they don't have a glaze on top...which is also probably a good thing! 😉
marcie says
I've never heard of kolaches but I can tell by looking at them that I would love them! These look so soft and fluffy. 🙂
Lisa Johnson says
I had never heard of them before I moved to Iowa, but they are in just about every bakery here! You can even buy them in some gas stations. 🙂 They are really good if you are looking for something different to serve.
Mom's Dish says
They are also called "vartushka" in Russian. Usually kolaches in translation mean shaped in a ring dough, kind alike bangles. Looks like you did a perfect job 🙂
Deb@ Cooking on the Front Burner says
Thanks for sharing this with us at our Marvelous Monday Party! Pinning and when are we getting together for a food fest and drinks 🙂
Elizabeth says
This looks delicious! There is a small business near me that sells only kolaches but other than this one store I've never heard of them or had them. They are sooo delicious at that restaurant though so I would love to try them myself at home sometime! Thank you for sharing it, I am definitely pinning it for the future!
Kari/SourdoughNative says
Love these, I'm a transplant to Northern Iowa as well, they have such great desserts. Thanks for posting, I'm going to give it a try! What part of this frigid state do you hail from?
Hugs-Kari
P.S. I'm thinking I'll follow you!
Lisa Johnson says
Hi Kari, I am in the Marion/Cedar Rapids area...freezing!! I sure hope it warms up soon. 🙂
Cathy@LemonTreeDwelling says
These look like they'd be PERFECT with a cup of coffee, Lisa!! Thanks for the great recipe and for sharing it at Saturday Night Fever!
Laura@baking in pyjamas says
Thanks for linking up at Sweet and Savoury Sunday. These look yummy, I could easily nibble on a few, maybe with some added jam spread on each piece.
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you Laura, that sounds like a brilliant idea!:)
Diane Balch says
Could I have had these in Chicago? They seem familiar. So glad you brought them to foodie friday.
Lisa Johnson says
There is a really good chance that you could have Diane. I'm guessing they are pretty popular in the Midwest. 🙂
Lisa at Texas Decor says
Hi Lisa! These look so good!! My grandfather was Czech, so we had LOTS of kolaches growing up. 🙂 I'm going to print this recipe. I absolutely love the apricot ones! Hope you have a wonderful week!
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you so much Lisa, I'm sure you will love them! I hope you have a wonderful week as well. 🙂