Kolache #BBB

Our bake this month is certainly a treat, the Czech and Slovak sweet pastry known as kolache.  I made them a couple years back and they were the fluffiest thing I have almost ever had!  That time I used a half and half cheese and preserve filling so this time I decided to go with an apple filling from King Arthur.  I went with my original dough recipe since it had turned out so amazingly soft and fluffy but I may also try our host's recipe because mine was not a sweet dough and I think the apple filling could have benefited from a slightly sweet dough.  I added quite a bit of lemon to tart up the apples I was using, (not Granny Smith), because a perky apple filling is much better than a bland, sweet one.  These are quite delicious, though I wonder if a tiny bit of icing drizzle might be good for this particular batch with the not-sweet dough.  My family likes to let things sit in the toaster oven on warm and that little bit of icing drizz would just bubble and crisp and be positively delightful.  Yup, another batch in order...

We would love to have you try out these delicious treats with us this month and share how it turned out and what you thought!  New recipes are posted every month on the 16th. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants' baking results during that time.  If you would like to post your results with a Buddy badge on a blog, let us know in the comments or on the Facebook page. 

(If you wish to try a tangzhong kolache, this is the recipe I used.)

Homemade Kolaches
Makes 16 kolaches

Dough

    3½ cups (491g) all-purpose flour
    2¼ tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
    1½ tsp salt
    1 cup whole milk
    10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
    ⅓ cup (66g) sugar
    1 large egg plus 2 large yolks

Cream cheese filling

    12 oz (340g) cream cheese, softened
    ½ cup (100g) sugar
    1 tbsp all-purpose flour
    ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
    Pinch salt
    1-2 tsp lemon juice

Streusel (Posypka)

    2 tbsp plus 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
    2 tbsp plus 2 teaspoons sugar
    1 tbsp (15g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and chilled

For the dough

Mix flour, yeast, and salt together in bowl of stand mixer.  Combine milk, melted butter, sugar, egg, and egg yolks in a 4-cup measuring cup until sugar has dissolved.  Mix on low speed, slowly add milk mixture to flour mixture and mix until a dough starts to form and the flour is fully incorporated, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.  Increase speed to medium-low and knead until dough is smooth and elastic and clears sides of bowl but still sticks to bottom, 8-12 minutes.

Transfer dough to a well-floured counter.  Using your well-floured hands, knead dough to form a smooth, round ball, about 30 seconds. Return dough to bowl and cover to rise.  Let rise until doubled in size, 1-1½ hours.  (The unrisen dough can be refrigerated for at least 8 hours or up to 16 hours; let dough sit at room temperature for 1 hour before shaping.)

For the filling (or choose desired filling)

Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt on low speed until smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add 1 tsp of lemon juice and mix to combine.  The lemon juice should brighten the filling but not make it taste like lemon.  Add more juice if needed.  Cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the posypka streusel

Combine flour, sugar, and butter in bowl and rub the butter into the dry mixture until it resembles wet sand. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Finish the dough

Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.  Punch down dough and place on lightly floured counter. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces (about 2¼ oz each) and cover loosely with greased plastic.  Working with one piece of dough at a time (keep remaining pieces covered), form each piece into a ball by stretching dough around your thumbs and pinching edges together so that the top is smooth.  Place seam side down on a clean counter and using a cupped hand, drag in small circles until the dough feels taut and round.

Place dough balls seam side down on prepared sheets, spaced about 1½ inches apart.  Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until increased in size by about half, 1½ to 2 hours.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350ºF.  Grease and flour the bottom of a round ⅓-cup dry measuring cup.  Press the cup firmly into the center of each dough round until the cup touches the sheet to make indentation for filling.  (Reflour the cup as needed to prevent sticking.)

Divide the filling evenly among kolaches (about 1½ tbsp each) and smooth with the back of a spoon. Whisk together 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water and pinch salt.  Gently brush the edges with egg mixture and sprinkle with streusel.  (Do not sprinkle streusel over filling.)  (Some recipes have the streusel only on the edges, others cover the entire top.)

Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway though baking. Transfer kolaches to wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm. 

Notes from the host kitchen:

*Recipe adapted from Bread Illustrated.
*If your dough is not clearing the sides of the bowl after mixing, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it does so.
*You can sub ricotta for half of the cream cheese filling. Use 6 oz (170g) cream cheese and 6 ounces (¾ cup) whole-milk or part-skim ricotta cheese

https://www.thevanillabeanblog.com/kolaches/
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/czech-kolaches-recipe
https://www.cooklikeczechs.com/moravian-kolache-moravske-kolace/
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/misc/kolaches.html

Farmer cheese filling (half in parentheses):
450 g farmers cheese (225 grams)
120 g powdered sugar (60 grams)
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp cornstarch (1 ½ t. cornstarch)

Optional:
1 T. lemon zest (1 ½ t. lemon zest)
1 t. vanilla (1/2 t. vanilla)
2 T. raisins (1 T. raisins)
Place all ingredients into a bowl; mix well.

The rest of the Bread Baking Babes

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
  
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories - Karen