Blueberry Kolaches are made from a sweetened yeast dough and filled with a simple, fresh blueberry filling and a streusel topping. They are as tasty as they are pretty.
Kolaches are a sweet Czech breakfast pastry typically stuffed with cream cheese or fruit.
You don’t see kolaches much in these parts (South Carolina) but apparently they are very popular in Texas which is where The Pastry Queen, Rebecca Rather, has her bakery. This recipe is adapted from her recipe for Peach Kolaches in The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country’s Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe
. I love this cookbook more and more with every recipe I try.
The dough gets made a day in advance and does its first rise in the refrigerator. All that’s left the next morning is the second rise.
But first the dough is divided into balls and a depression is made in the middle to hold the filling.
These sweet little buns can be filled with fruit or cream cheese. You could use peaches, strawberries, or pineapple. You can even go nontraditional and fill them with bacon or sausage, egg, and cheese.
But Blueberries are so beautiful. I couldn’t resist using them. I’m quite smitten with blueberries.
This Blueberry Kolaches recipe makes a huge tray of kolaches, but you won’t have trouble finding people to eat them. 🙂
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Blueberry Kolaches
Ingredients
dough
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water,, 110-115 degrees
- 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup butter, (1 stick)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Blueberry Filling
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Streusel Topping
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Place milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until it begins to steam and form a skin on top. Do not boil. Cool 10 to 15 minutes or until it is between 110 and 115 degrees.
- Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water and let sit for 5 minutes. (Try and time this so it will be ready at the same time the milk reaches the correct temperature.)
- Melt butter in microwave and cool 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, and melted butter.
- Whisk in cooled milk and yeast mixture.
- Add flour 2 cups at a time, stirring in with a wooden spoon. Do not work the dough too much. Once the flour is mixed in, transfer the dough to a large bowl coated with vegetable oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
- Punch dough down, cover with plastic wrap again and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight.
- After refrigerating, grease a 12x17-inch baking sheet with butter or cooking spray.
- Make filling. Combine all filling ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until some of the blueberries burst and the filling thickens some, about 5 minutes. Let cool some.
- Lightly oil your hands and shape dough into approximately 2 1/2-inch balls. You should have 20 balls. Place balls on baking sheet, spacing 4 across and 5 down. Using your fingers, make a dent in the middle of each ball for the filling. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in each one.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been coated with cooking spray. Let rise until almost doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a small bowl combine butter, flour, and sugar for streusel. Use your fingers to mix the butter in well. Sprinkle on top of kolaches and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally published August 6, 2015.
Recipe adapted from: The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country’s Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe
More Blueberry Recipes
Lightened Up Blueberry Coffee Cake
Blueberry Granola Crunch Pancakes
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Can you substitute the fresh blueberries with frozen blueberries?
Can you add a cream cheese filling with blueberries?
These are amazing! I tried them out today and they turned out perfect! The recipe was very easy to follow. I did end up making 38, so I think my balls were a bit too small. The filling amount was perfect for the amount I ended up making though. I doubled the streusel topping after I saw how many there were, and because I love streusel. Everything turned out perfect and even my husband, who typically doesn’t like many pastries, said he loved them too.
can I make the dough and freeze it?
The recipe pretty similar to the one passed down in family. My recipe also for grated lemon peel and mace.
We are from Nebraska originally and lived in Verdigre, Nebraska were there were many settlers from Czechoslovakia. The Kolache is filled with apricot, prune (traditional), poppy seed. cherry, pineapple preserves. They town has a yearly Kolache Festival.
I’m from Czech Republic and yes these are kolace! However real kolace are made with egg yolks only. Dough is separated into balls. Each ball is filled with filling (sweetened farmer’s cheese or spiced grated apples or sweetend poppy seed filling). After filling, balls are pressed in the middle to make space for topping ( fruit butter). Then it’s sprinkled with streusel.
Blueberry topping looks delish though. I will definitely try your recipe!
I would love to have your recipe for the kolaches with only egg yokes as do not have that recipe. I grew up eating them and have made them myself but always looking for another recipe. That would be so great. I have some in freezer now from two different places but none have that homemade taste. Thank you. Glennis
I have never made kolaches before, but I am going to try this wonderful version. My Czech grandmother always made hers with prunes. Blueberries are more inspiring!
Hope you love them Jan! I love them with blueberries but I’ve been meaning to try some different fillings. 🙂
That’s not a true Kolache! I am from Minnesota and we have a couple of towns (Montgomery and New Prague) that are known for kolaches they are more like a dinner roll with fillings like poppy seed,apple,apricot,
Maybe in Minnesota.
However, we in Texas have a proud Czech heritage, too. We have lots of variations from generations of Czechs who settled in Texas starting the 1800’s. Check out (so to speak) a real favorite has sausage: “klobasnek” (or “klobasnik”) is a Czech food that has been also called a “sausage kolache” (pastry). Both the kolache and the klobasnek are popular with the Czech population in central Texas, especially around West, Texas and the capital of Austin.
Could you use peaches or strawberries and cook the same way.
Yes, Peggy. Peaches or strawberries would work. And I bet apples would be delicious as well. 🙂
Actually Pineapple Orange Marmalade and Gooseberry Jam work equally well and give a different look and flavor to the Kolache.
That sounds wonderful!!