Dairy Free Kolaches

Growing up in Texas, kolache’s are everywhere! I didn’t realize until I got older, how much of a Czech, German, Bohemian, etc., influence was all throughout West Texas.
Also, isn’t it funny how when you leave a place you’re really nostalgic for the things you grew up with.
In this instructable, I’ll show you how I made kolache’s only dairy free. My partner has a cow milk intolerance and so this is why I’m going dairy free option. But in any spot where I mention plant-based dairy products you could substitute animal milk/cheese.

Start by putting one cup of milk in a pan on low heat. You want it to be 110-115F (43.3-46C).
While that’s heating up, dump 1 cup or 65g of your AP flour in a large mixing bowl, along with the granulated sugar, and one package of active yeast, mix.
Once the milk is heated through, remove it from the heat and add it to the bowl. Allow five minutes for the yeast to activate.
While we wait, I used the same container that had the milk in to melt my 4 tablespoons of butter. In another bowl containing the three egg yolks, slowly add the melted butter, stopping periodically to whisk. The idea here is that you don’t want the eggs to scramble but rather to temper. Once all of the butter is incorporated to the egg yolks, add your salt.
After five minutes, you should start to see bubbles forming in your milk-flour mixture from the yeast. Add your egg mix to the yeast mixture and fold it together using a spatula.
Gradually add the rest of your AP flour to the bowl and mix constantly. When the dough starts to get tacky and hard to work with, you want to remove it from the bowl and onto a dusted surface. Dust your hands as well and work the dough until it is no longer tacky, adding a little bit of flour here and there. However, you don’t want to add a lot of flour because you want this to be an eggy dough not a dense dough. You also don’t wanna work the dough too much to develop a lot of gluten, and so 2 to 3 minutes would be sufficient.
Once the dough is still a little bit “sticky“ but no longer tacky (you should be able to slap it and remove your hand without dough coming with you), add it to a bowl, covered, and place it in a warm area for 1-1 1/2 hours. It should double in size.

Once again, I use that same pot to melt 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter. Add this, the flour, the granulated sugar, and the 1/8 teaspoon of salt to a bowl and mix.
The streusel will start to harden up and that’s OK. That’s what you want. Set that aside for later.

Add the egg yolk, cream cheese, and powdered sugar to a bowl and whisk. You could use a stand mixer if you have one, but a handmixer works as well. Don’t try and use a regular whisk, it was a terrible experience for me 😅. After you incorporate those three ingredients, zest the lemon into the bowl, avoiding the bitter pith.
Mix until light and fluffy. That usually takes about a minute or so. Set aside for later.

After the dough has rested and risen for an hour to an hour and a half, doubling in size, you can remove it to your work surface. This does not have to be powdered with flour this time because it should be workable without flour.
I portion these out into 12 balls that I weighed 2.3 ounces.
I placed these on a baking tray that was lined with parchment paper. And I usually have trouble keeping the parchment paper from curling up on itself being in the roll for so long. So what I do is smear a piece of butter on the corners to act as a sort of “glue“ to keep the parchment paper from unrolling and being a pain. Just a little pro tip for ya ;-) .
If you’re like me, you probably won’t hit 2 1/3 ounce every single time. So if you have to take or add some extra pieces of dough, just make sure that you roll them back into a ball and place them on the baking tray. This will help later to keep a consistent shape for adding the filling for your sweet kolaches.
Once you have portioned out your dough balls, cover them with a damp kitchen towel and leave them to rise for a second time, about 30 to 45 minutes. I left these on my kitchen counter this time.

After the second rise, it’s time to start filling!
For the sweet kolache’s, your order of operation will be to:
Make a little well in the dough balls, ~2-inches wide,
Brush edges with an egg wash (1 yolk + 1Tbsp of milk, mixed),
Fill with cream cheese, If you want to,
Make a well in that cream cheese for the filling,
Add your filling, and then
Top with streusel.

I cheated and used my mother-in-law’s jam for the filling. She cans jams and they are yummy and plentiful so I’m gonna go with peach, strawberry-rhubarb, and tart cherry!

I went a little nuts on the egg wash. I should’ve just done the edge’s but I my picture shows me washing the well, as well.

For the savory kolaches, I stuffed four dough balls with one of my favorite sausages: Eckrich. I personally like the jalapeño cheddar sausages and/or boudin filled but go with whatever you like.

I cut each piece about 3-inches long, rolled out the dough ~1/4-inch thick, and rolled it over. I placed them in the sheet, seem side down, and brushed the top with the egg wash. My original thought was to cut the sausages in half lengthwise but that would leave a dough heavy kolache and while delicious, I prefer a good ratio of sausage to dough. Kind of similar to how I don’t like a tamale that’s 80% masa with minimal filling. You know what I’m saying?!

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C), place the kolaches in for 20 minutes. I place them on the top rack.
I left them alone the whole time but if you make a big batch you may want to rotate halfway. Generally, I feel it best to leave them alone, however.

After 20 minutes, remove and place on the counter or a window sill to cool slightly. The savory ones you can enjoy after a slight cooldown. I personally like my sweet kolaches at room temperature, if not cooled down completely and enjoyed for breakfast. I could eat these everyday but it’s best in moderation, haha.

My kiddo went straight for sausage kolache and actually ate two!!
I hope you enjoy this recipe especially if you or someone you know has a dairy intolerance. Cheers! Prosit!!