The story behind this recipe is kind of a funny one. I'm not a fan of kolaches myself but Tyler grew up loving Mammaw's (sp?) kolaches. He said they were the most fluffy, wonderful things in the world and begged me to track down the recipe. I called a few family members and everyone deferred me to Nana. When I called Nana, I thought we had some kind of misunderstanding because we ended up with a date to make her kolaches together. She sent me the recipe and I got everything I needed and Nana came over a few days later. We got started and I told Nana how excited Tyler was for these kolaches, that he just loved Mammaw's kolaches growing up and he couldn't wait to have them again. Nana then told me that Mammaw never made a kolache in her life! She bought them from a neighbor whenever family came to visit!! I was dying laughing. We couldn't believe one of Tyler's most delicious childhood memories was actually not what he thought. So funny.
So Nana taught me how to make her kolaches in the end. She uses the dough from a friend's cinnamon roll recipe. Apparently it's delicious, but again, I don't like them and have therefore never tried these.
The typed recipe is the original, I always halve it because it still makes a crazy amount of dough, so I wrote that below the original.
Like the original recipe says, combine all ingredients to make a soft dough (sticks to your finger a bit) and let rise until almost double in size.
This is my setup when I'm forming the kolaches. Your hands get messy so I get everything ready and near me beforehand so I don't have to wash my hands a thousand extra times. I just buy a package of little sausages from Sam's to fill them. You'll also need some vegetable oil.
Like I said, the dough is sticky. But you want it sticky so that it's super soft! Roll it in a little flour, but only a little.
Dip your fingers in oil and rub on your opposite palm so the dough doesn't stick to you and you can mold it. Take a 1/2-1" size ball of dough and press it flat in your hand.
Put a little sausage in the middle and cover completely with dough. Notice there's not a whole lot of excess - you want the breading to be pretty thin around the kolache. At least, I'm told that's the best way.
I usually put parchment paper on the pans first but I was out this time around. Spraying the pans worked just fine. Let them rise if you can, but to be honest I usually don't see much of a difference in them when I let them sit. By the time I get the last pan rolled out I pop the first one in the oven. They rise in the oven just fine - I think the cold sausage stops it from rising too much.
Bake for about 15 minutes at 350, 'til they're goldish brown and smelling yummy! We freeze them in little bags - typically 5 to a bag. They'll freeze for up to 2 months, but they've never lasted that long around here. Tyler takes them out of the freezer and microwaves them for about 40 seconds and they're good to go!
*Note: I have done a little experimenting with other stuff in the kolaches. I have put little slices of cheese in with the sausages, and I have also tried a little piece of deli turkey with some cheese. Tyler liked them all. I usually just stick with sausage because it's already a very time-consuming process. Nana says she loves fruit kolaches, but I have no clue about those.
So there it is, finally. Sorry to Laura and whoever else asked for the recipe a really long time ago!
