Cheese-Filled Kolaches
Fluffy, buttery breakfast pastries filled with cream cheese and (optional) homemade fruit preserves. If you've never heard of kolaches before, you're welcome.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook
Ingredients
Kolaches
- 1 cup whole milk
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 package)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Streusel
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter diced and chilled
To finish:
- 1 egg white beaten
- fruit preserves optional
Instructions
For the dough:
- Whisk together milk, melted butter, egg, and yolks.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add in milk mixture and blend on low speed until combined.
- Increase speed to medium and knead until dough consistently clears the sides of the bowl but still sticks to the bottom, about 8-12 minutes. Dough will be fairly sticky.
- Transfer dough to a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place to rise until dough doubles, about 1 hour.
- When dough is ready, prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dump dough out onto lightly floured counter and divide into quarters. Divide again into quarters to make 16 pieces.
- Pull down edges of dough and pinch at bottom to make a rough ball. Cup each ball between your palm and fingers and roll into a smooth ball.
- Place 8 dough balls on each prepared baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic, and allow to rise again in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
For the filling:
- Make the cream cheese filling while the dough rises. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until completely smooth.
- Add egg yolk and mix completely. Add sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla and beat again until smooth.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the streusel:
- In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar.
- Cut cold butter in with your fingers until mixture resembles very fine crumbs.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
To assemble kolaches:
- When dough is almost ready, preheat oven to 350° F.
- Dip bottom of a 1/3 cup measuring cup into flour. Press cup into the center of each dough ball, pressing all the way down to make a deep indentation.
- Brush each kolache with a thin layer of beaten egg white. Fill with cheese filling and/or fruit as desired, about 1 1/2 tbsp per kolache. Sprinkle streusel on outside edges of dough, avoiding filling.
- Bake until golden brown, rotating pans halfway through, about 23-27 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and serve warm if possible.
Notes
Kolaches can be kept in the refrigerator for about 5 days. They're best if re-warmed in the oven for several minutes.