Go Back
Best Kolache Recipe for Holidays
Print Recipe
4.50 from 2 votes

Traditional Czech Kolache Recipe

Kolaches are a soft traditional Czech pastry that are popular through Texas and Iowa, but little known elsewhere in the United States.
Prep Time2 hours 15 minutes
Cook Time7 minutes
Course: Dessert, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Czech
Keyword: Dessert, Holiday, Kolache, Traditional
Servings: 24

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1 1/2 Cup 2% Milk
  • 1/3 Cup Sugar
  • 4.5 Cup Flour All Purpose
  • 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter Room Temperature
  • 1 Tbsp dry yeast Activated in 1/8 cup of water with 1/2 tsp of sugar
  • 1 Egg White & Yolk
  • 1 Egg Yolk Beat together with the other egg
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Dash Nutmeg
  • 1 Tsp Lemon Juice

Filling

  • 1 Cup Dried Apricots Cut into 4 pieces each
  • 1/4 Cup Sugar or Honey
  • Water As needed

Instructions

Filling

  • Over medium heat, add apricots, sugar, and 3 tbsp of water to a small sauce pan.
  • Cook mixture until fruit breaks down and a thick jelly forms.
  • Add small amounts of water as needed to keep sugar from burning.
  • Allow to cool

Dough

  • Activate yeast in warm water
  • In a large bowl combine milk, sugar, butter, and 1 cup flour
  • Mix in activated yeast mixture
  • Cover and let rise for 15 minutes
  • Add beaten eggs, salt, nutmeg, and lemon juice
  • Once well combined, add rest of flour 1 cup at a time until a tacky dough forms
  • On a well floured surface, turn out dough and knead until the dough is smooth and soft. The dough shouldn’t be sticky to the touch.
  • In a greased bowl cover and let dough rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
  • Punch down dough and rise for another 30 minutes, covered.
  • On a well floured surface turn out dough and press into a rectangle with hands
  • Cover and let rise another 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425˚
  • Cut dough into 3x3 squares (a pizza cutter works great for this!)
  • Add 1-2 tbsp of filling to the center of each square
  • Gather opposite corners and pinch together, repeat with remaining corners
  • On a cookie sheet, bake for 5-7 minutes until light golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.