Cream Cheese Kolache is a famous Czech pastry which is made from a soft and rich dough, shaped into a small disc with indentation in the middle. The center is filled with some kind of sweet filling, often made from dried fruit and/or cheese.
120mlWarm Milk 1/2 Cup If you don’t want to add milk, you can use plain water instead.
120mlWarm Water1/2 Cup
57gUnsalted Butter (softened)1/4 Cup
32gSugar2 and 1/2 tbsp
6gSalt 1 tsp
3gYeast (instant /active dried yeast) 1tsp
For the cream cheese filling
226gCream Cheese 8 oz
50gSugar1/4 cup
1/2 tspVanilla extract/vanilla powder
1Egg Yolkor 2 tbsp flour
Instructions
Prepare the dough
Into a bowl add the warm milk and water, sugar,salt,yeast and softened butter and combine everything together.
Then add in the flour into this mixture and combine them together to form a shaggy mass of dough.
If you are kneading the dough by hands, transfer the dough on to a clean work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes(6-8 minutes)until it form a smooth dough.
The dough may feel sticky in the beginning, thats ok,(that’s the way it should be); you may be tempted to add more flour but don’t do that.The dough will come together in about 5 minutes of kneading.
First Proofing(30 minutes)
Shape it into a ball ; then flatten it a little and then cover it with a bowl or kitchen towel and let the dough rest on the counter for thirty minutes.This will let the dough sit for a few minutes so that the gluten stands will relax.This resting will prevent our dough from enormous rebounding back of the dough while rolling it into a thin rectangular sheet.
Divide and Shape the kolaches
So for the next step of shaping the rolls, first we need to roll the dough into a sheet (1/2 inch thick).
Then using a cookie cutter or with the open mouth of a glass ,cut rounds (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter).
Place the dough rounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Second Rising(45 minutes)
Then cover and allow the dough discs to rise for 45 minutes.
Prepare the cream cheese filling for kolache by mixing cream cheese ,sugar and vanilla powder or vanilla extract.
When the dough discs are puffy, use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to press a deep indentation into the center.Press firm and deep;or otherwise the cream cheese filling will overflow during baking.
Brush the surface of the rim with an egg wash, so that they will get a golden brown colour and shine after baking.
Fill the center with a mixture of cream cheese,sugar, and vanilla(1 and 1/2 to 2 tbsp).Now our kolache dough discs are ready to go into the oven for baking.
Bake the kolaches
Bake at 375 F or 190 C for 18-20 minutes.Baking duration may vary according to the thickness of the kolache.The more thick the kolache the more baking time will it require.