Life is short, have a kolach.
By Monica on January 6th, 2008
Perhaps the most famous Czech food item, and certainly its’ best known dessert, I have probably eaten my own body weight in kolache over the years. They come in many forms, shapes, and sizes. Some use raised dough (like the photo above), mine do not. All of them are delicious and must be given away immediately once they emerge from the oven, or they have a tendency to be eaten like popcorn and disappear within minutes (relocated straight to your ass & thighs).
They can be filled with farmer’s cheese, fruit fillings, poppyseed, or a variety of other temptations. My favorites were always the raspberry or apricot kolache, so that’s primarily what I make at home now. Solo makes a brand of fruit filling under the label “Bohemian Kitchen” that I’ve always used, if you can’t find this, use your favorite preserve or make an easy cream cheeze filling.
Instead of the raised dough variety, mine are the very light, flaky, pastry crust version. While this makes the dough hard to work with, they practically melt in your mouth. Like pie crust, the key to this dough is to get it, and keep it, very cold.
Health conscious vegans, look away from this recipe! These delicious suckers are comprised entirely of sugar and fat. They are easily veganized with non-dairy cream cheese and Earth Balance, but are still atherosclerosis on a plate! I reward myself with these only once per year because in all seriousness, we eat 2 full platters within 24 hours. It may as well be cocaine dusted on top of them instead of powdered sugar, though that might be a tad more costly.
Czech Kolache
12 ounces Tofutti cream cheese
2 cups Earth Balance
3 cups flour
Confectioners’ sugar
Filling of your choice (2 jars Solo filling, or about 16 ounces of your other choice)
Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat together EB and cream cheese until light and fluffy, (2-3 minutes).
Add flour, one cup at a time, until well combined.
Dough will be a little sticky. Divide into thirds, shape into flat circles, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, overnight is even better.
Remove one round of dough at a time from the refrigerator and roll out to 1/8″ thickness on a lightly floured surface.
Cut into 1 1/2″ squares (a pizza cutter works best).
Drop 1/2t of filling into the middle of each square.
Fold two opposite corners of each square over the filling to meet in center. Smooth them together, or give a little pinch so that they stay joined.
Place on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350° until lightly golden, 10-12 minutes.
When cooled, dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Makes about 5 dozen. That number will impress you even more once you realize you’ve eaten all of them.
Debbie says:
Oh my, they look heavenly. And oh, so dangerous.
January 6th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Mel says:
Oh my god, I loved them when I was a child - my grandma used to make them loads.
Yum, yum - will try them soon!
January 7th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Tracy says:
Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. And here I am, having just started my diet! What a thing to do to a gal. I may have to run a few extra miles this week and indulge this coming weekend…:0)
January 7th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
melody says:
Those are beautiful…
January 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Chocolatecoveredvegan says:
Yay for kolaches!!! I think I may have already mentioned this, but I had vegan kolaches this past week too!
January 7th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Tori says:
Wow those look so good!
They remind me of when I was little and my grandma would get a box of various interesting cookies from a polish bakery near her house, there was things a lot like that in the box.
January 7th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Alisa says:
Oh, I am on the healthy side.. but those DO look really good!
January 7th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Cakespy says:
I am obsessed with Kolaches lately! Being from NJ and now living in Seattle, I came upon them late in life, but have been making up for lost time.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
jd says:
Good lord! These kolaches look AMAZING.
I actually had no idea how much I liked “filling” in desserts until recently. So, just looking at these photos makes my mouth water…
Too bad extra weight is the last thing my thighs & ass are in need of. ((Sigh.))
January 8th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Classic Cook says:
How much to have you make them and ship them to me? They look great!!
January 8th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Veggie says:
I’ve never heard of those, they look tasty!
January 9th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Suzie says:
Mmm… Sugar and fat always gets me drooling (as long as it is in baked-good form).
Thanks for the recipe! I think I would try some kind of chocolate filling… hmmm… But I’m trying to be good now, so I’ll lock it in the ‘things I will make when I’m done being good’ file.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Liz² says:
omg, those look gorgeous and sinful and all things inhaleable! I’m so glad I can’t find vegan cream cheese where I live, or I’d have some serious thigh-issues to consider!
January 10th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Melisser @ theurbanhousewife.com says:
WOW! These sound & look phenomenal.I think I may have to make these for my vegan brunch crew! yum yum.
January 10th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Kathleen says:
I just found this post by googling “vegan kolach” because I just veganized my great-grandmother’s recipe this weekend. I thought I was the first one to veganize them!
Guess I was wrong. Except that my great grandmother’s version are the “puffy” kind.
Just sending some vegan kolach love!
March 10th, 2008 at 10:32 pm