Kolaches
Melt-in-your-mouth Kolaches made with warm milk, yeast, sugar, shortening, salt, eggs, egg yolks, and flour. They are filled with fruit preserves and baked to perfection.
Melt-in-your-mouth Kolaches made with warm milk, yeast, sugar, shortening, salt, eggs, egg yolks, and flour. They are filled with fruit preserves and baked to perfection.
- Carbohydrate 811.796617254277 g
- Cholesterol 581.263221685123 mg
- Fat 124.41126327901 g
- Fiber 23.2225004432347 g
- Protein 130.885359193693 g
- Saturated Fat 54.5860028798789 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (2476g)
- Sodium 11082.793467724 mg
- Sugar 788.574116811042 g
- Trans Fat 10.39328625262 g
- Calories 4951 calories
Step-by-step
- Pour warm milk over yeast, and let dissolve. Then add sugar, shortening, salt, eggs, egg yolks, and flour. Stir until well combined. Remove dough to a well oiled bowl, and turn once to coat the surface. Cover, and place in a warm spot. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
- Dish out dough with a tablespoon, and roll into balls. Brush each with shortening, and let rise until doubled in bulk.
- Flatten the balls, and make a depression in the centers. Fill with fruit preserves. Allow to rise.
- Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Stretching a budget means utilizing shelf-stable pantry staples like active dry yeast and shortening to build a rich dough without purchasing expensive specialty ingredients. Active dry yeast requires precise temperature control; milk heated between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit activates the fungus without killing it. Thermometers remove guesswork, but dropping a small splash on the inside of the wrist provides a reliable heat check if specialized tools are unavailable.
Dough development relies on two distinct fermentation phases. Primary rising takes approximately one hour in an ambient draft-free environment until the mass doubles in volume. Secondary proofing happens after shaping the individual portions into rounds. Brushing each piece with shortening prior to the second rise prevents a dry outer skin from forming. Deep depressions must be pressed firmly into the center of each ball to hold the fruit preserves securely during baking, preventing leaks across the pan.
Baking at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes transforms the structure. Watch for a pale golden exterior rather than deep browning to keep the crumb tender. Leftover baked pastries dry out quickly because yeast doughs lack high fat or sugar retention matrices found in enriched brioche. Reheating stale pieces in a 350-degree oven for three minutes restores moisture, or stale rounds can be cubed and toasted for bread pudding bases.
