So worth it, so make it!: Sausage Kolaches

Sausage Kolaches

These are some of my favorite snacks! They are great for breakfast, lunch, or as a Game Day goodie! Similar to Pigs in a Blanket, Sausage Kolaches are great for kids of all ages. Serve them with pickles, your favorite giardiniera mix, or even sauerkraut.

The recipe is easy to make, and if you can roll a burrito, you can make kolaches! Here's how...........

Ingredients for dough:

4 teaspoons instant yeast (20 gm)
1 1/2 cups warm milk (2.5 dl)
1/3 cup sugar (70 gm)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (115 gm)
5 cups of flour (775 gm) plus extra for dusting

Filling:
1-2 pounds (1 kg) of your choice of smoked sausage or pre-cooked meat.
Other filling suggestions: shredded cheese, mustard, spicy relish, sliced jalapenos, sliced banana peppers, sauteed onions, anything you want! Just make sure they are well drained. Don't be putting wet, soppy stuff into your dough, or it won't cook properly.

Begin by making the dough. This process takes approximately 15 minutes. Ten of those minutes will be used by your mixer, as it kneads the dough for you.

Step 1. Warm the milk. Don't heat it all the way through, 110 degrees F is perfect. Throw it in the bowl of your stand mixer, along with the yeast and the sugar. Mix it up, and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until the yeast grows up.

Now we can mix up our dough. Place the mixing bowl into your mixer, and affix the paddle attachment. Add the eggs, butter, salt and flour. Blend with the paddle until everything is incorporated. Now let's change to the dough hook. Once the dough hook is on, let the machine do your work for you. I set my mixer at #3, and let it go for 8-10 minutes. After 8-10 minutes, the dough should have pulled away from the sides of the bowl, and should spring back when touched.

Now we have two options: #1- let this dough rise for 1-2 hours at room temperature, then use immediately. #2. Cover the bowl of dough tightly and refrigerate overnight.

If you decide to make the dough ahead of time, after you take it out of the refrigerator, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This will take the chill out of the dough, and it will be much easier to roll out.

Next step: Dump your dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Scrape the bowl if necessary. To the best of your ability, roll out the dough into a rectangular like shape, to about 1/4 inch thickness (that's .5 centimeters for my metric peeps ;) ). No need to be terribly fussy, though, just roll it out thinly.
Place a piece of your meat of choice onto the dough. Cut the dough so that the meat is in the middle. Leave about 1/4 inch at either end of the meat, lengthwise.

Sausage in the middle, 1/4 inch on each end. You can even fold it over the ends of the sausage, as shown here.

Now we can begin rolling up our little burritos. Fold the top half of the dough over your meat, and then the bottom half over that. Now pinch together all the seams, and give it a roll on the board. This will create your nice shape.

Continue in this manner, until all the dough is used. this recipe should yield approximately 24 rolls, depending on size. Place the rolled kolaches on a parchment lined baking sheet, and cover with a towel. Allow to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (that's 190 degrees C for my metric peeps). Make a quick egg wash with one egg and a bit of water. Whisk until incorporated. Just before placing the kolaches in the oven, brush the egg wash over the tops of each one. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.