Kolache - Czech Sweet Pastries

Kolache (ko-LAH-ch), or Koláče in Czech, is a sweet Czech pastry made from a sweet yeast dough with various fillings. Authentic Czech kolache are usually round and filled to the brim with either poppy, cheese or jam, then topped with just the right amount of crumble. Soft, pillowy, and buttery kolache are delicious warm from the oven and are best the day they are made. Serve them as a breakfast, or afternoon snack with tea or coffee or any time you like one.
If you are going to try the cheese filling, mix 250 grams of cottage cheese, 50 grams of erythritol or sugar, 1 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract together. The poppy filling recipe is enough for two batch of dough. Half the filling or double the dough. I portioned the dough into 9, each about 100 grams, but you can make 18 smaller kolache.

Dough	Poppy Seed Filling
500 g Plain flour 70 g Erythritol or sugar 7 g Instant dry yeast 1/3 tsp Sea salt Zest of 1 lemon 200 ml Whole milk, lukewarm 1 Large egg 80 g Unsalted butter, melted and cooled Jam of your choice 1 Egg for the egg wash 25 g Butter, softened (for crumble) 25 g Erythritol or sugar (for crumble) 30 g Plain flour (for crumble)	200 g Poppy seeds, ground 250 ml Whole milk 80 g Erythritol or sugar) 40 g Honey 1/8 tsp Ground cloves 1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon

Combine the ground poppy seeds, milk, erythritol or sugar and honey in a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and continue to cook until it has thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan off the heat and stir in the spices. Set aside to cool while prepare the dough.
In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, erthritol or sugar, yeast, salt and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and butter. Add the liquid mixture to the dry and mix on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes until no dry remains. Increase the speed and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, approximately 6-8 minutes.
Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Lightly grease the mixing bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap or clean towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Turn out the dough on a work surface and briefly knead the dough with your hands. Divide the dough into 9-18 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place on a parchment lined baking tray to rest for 20 minutes.
Dip a glass in flour so it won’t stick to the dough, use the lightly floured glass to press firmly a deep indentation in the center of each ball. Egg wash the rim of the dough and generously fill the indentation with poppy filling or jam of your choice.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. For the crumble topping, combine butter, sugar and flour in a bowl with your fingers until a sandy mixture forms. Set aside. Sprinkle the crumble over the topping.
Bake the kolache for 25 minutes if you divide them into 9 portions, 12-15 minutes if 18 portions, until golden brown. Remove and enjoy!

2 comments:

Eva Taylor 14/11/25 13:04: These are absolutely adorable! I would love the jam-filled and poppyseed ones. I don't think I've ever made a yeasted cookie before. I am looking forward to making these.
Eva https://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/
DEZMOND 14/11/25 13:13: We say kolach as well in my language but generally for any cake. Danke for the detailed instructions with die photos.