Homemade Kolaches
Kolaches, a Czech pastry, are made of soft brioche dough and centers filled with creamy sweet cheese plus the slightest hint of lemon.
Servings 16 kolaches
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 1/2 cups (491g) all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup (66g) sugar
- 1 large egg plus 2 large yolks
Cream cheese filling
- 12 ounces (340g) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
Streusel
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and chilled
Instructions
For the dough
- Whisk flour, yeast, and salt together in bowl of stand mixer. Whisk milk, melted butter, sugar, egg, and egg yolks in a 4-cup measuring cup until sugar has dissolved. Using a dough hook on low speed, slowly add milk mixture to flour mixture and mix until cohesive dough starts to form and now dry flour remains, 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 to 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. Place dough seam side down in a lightly greased large bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (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.)
Make the filling
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt on low speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and mix to combine. Taste filling – you are looking for the lemon juice to brighten the filling, but not make it taste like lemon. Add more juice if needed. Transfer to bowl, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the streusel
- Combine flour, sugar, and butter in bowl and rub between fingers until mixture resembles wet sand. Cover with plastic 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. Stretch the dough into an even 16-inch log. Cut the log into 16 equal pieces (about 2 1/4 ounce each) and cover loosely with greased plastic. Working one piece of dough at a time (keep remaining pieces covered), form into rough ball by stretching dough around your thumbs and pinching edges together so that the top is smooth. Place the ball seam side down on a clean counter and, using your cupped hand, drag in small circles until dough feels taut and round.
- Arrange dough balls seam side down on prepared sheets, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until increased in size by about half, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour bottom of a round 1/3-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 filling evenly among kolaches (about 1 1/2 tablespoons each) and smooth with the back of a spoon. Whisk together 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water and pinch salt. Gently brush the edges with egg mixture and sprinkle with streusel. (Do not sprinkle streusel over filling.)
- 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
*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 (every time I’ve made this I’ve had to add 2-4 tablespoons extra of flour).
*You can sub ricotta for half of the cream cheese filling. Use 6 ounces (170g) cream cheese and 6 ounces (3/4 cup) whole-milk or part-skim ricotta cheese