Kolaches | Project Pastry Queen

It was Wildcard Week for Project Pastry Queen - which means I had a chance to try a recipe that I had previously missed during the rotation. I decided to try my hand at Kolaches - a Czech sweet bread that can be filled with a variety of sweet and savory toppings like poppy seeds, chopped fruits, sausages, etc..



The recipe calls for all-purpose flour. I substituted half the AP flour with whole wheat flour. My kolaches came out more dense than I would have liked it. I am not sure if it was because I used the whole wheat flour or if I didn't activate my yeast properly (my water was only slightly above room temperature and was well under the 110 degrees specified in the book).



I chose fresh chopped nectarines for my filling because it was the only filling I had. I would have loved to use sausage or hot dogs for pigs in a blanket. However, given the rather dense bread, I might just go with using the brioche dough next time, rather than this kolache dough.



The kolaches are finished with a yummy streusal topping prior to baking. I was a tad disappointed with the kolaches and couldn't tell if I just didn't activate my yeast right or overmixed the dough. The result was an almost biscuit-like bread rather than the fluffy ones in the pictures. You can find the full recipe over at Shawnda's blog, Confections of a Foodie Bride.