Grandmas Easy Kolackys Food

GRANDMA'S KOLACKY COOKIES

Steps:

• Cut butter into flour with two forks to resemble small peas, as you would pie crust. Stir in sour cream with serving spoon and mix well.
• Form into 2 balls and store, covered, in refrigerator to chill. Taking out one ball at a time, dust each with flour and roll on floured surface to approximately 1/8 thickness. (Note: If dough starts tearing, it may need more flour or to be chilled a bit more.).
• Cut with larger round cookie cutter or coffee cup, Fill center with approximately 1-2 teaspoons Solo, Bring up each side and pinch to close.
• Bake at 350 dg. for 12-15 minutes, until bottiom of cookie is just beginning to brown. Cool on wire racks then dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

GRANDMA OLGA'S KOLACKY

Steps:

• In a bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water, and stir in the yeast. Let stand until the yeast forms a creamy layer, about 5 minutes. In another bowl, mix the flour and margarine until well blended, and stir in the egg yolks, one at a time. Mix in the yeast mixture until incorporated, then stir in the sour cream to make a soft but not sticky dough. Cut the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces, cover with a cloth, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.
• Working on a floured work surface, roll out one of the dough balls into a square about 6x8 inches, about 1/8-inch thick. Keep the other pieces of dough refrigerated. With a pastry cutter or pizza roller, cut the square into 12 smaller squares about 2 inches on a side. Place about 2 teaspoons of fruit filling in the middle of each square, and fold two opposite corners of dough together to meet in the center. Pinch the corners together to partially enclose the filling. Place the filled kolacky on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies begin to turn golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes before removing them to wire racks to finish cooling. Sprinkle the kolacky with confectioners' sugar.

EASY KOLACKY

Steps:

• Place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl; beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar into the butter mixture. Slowly beat in the flour; mix well. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• On a well floured board, roll out chilled dough to 1/8 inch. Use a pizza wheel to cut dough into 2 1/2 inch squares. Spoon approximately 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each square; do not overfill. Fold opposite corners of each square into the middle to encase dough, pinching dough together in center. Filling should peek out a little at each end. Transfer cookies to an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake the kolacky in the preheated oven until set but not brown, about 12 minutes. Remove to racks to cool. Dust cooled kolacky with remaining powdered sugar.

KOLACKY

Steps:

• 1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. On low speed, gradually beat in the flour just until mixed. The dough will be soft and sticky.
• 2. Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into a thick disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm enough to handle, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
• 3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease or spray cookie sheets.
• 4. Dust a pastry cloth or board with flour or confectioners' sugar. Remove 1 dough disk from the refrigerator and place it on the pastry cloth. Keep the remaining dough disk refrigerated. Roll out the dough into a square or rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 1/2-inch squares.
• 5. Place 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center of each square. Pull 2 opposite corners of the square into the middle, and pinch the edges together to seal. Place the cookies on the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• 6. Bake in the center of the oven until lightly golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Dust the tops with sifted confectioners' sugar while still warm, then let cool completely.

GRANDMA'S GERMAN KOLACHES

Steps:

• Mix 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, yeast, and salt. Add 1.5 cups of hot water (but not boiling). Beat this and then add eggs, mixing. Add the other 3 cups of flour.
• Knead until smooth and satiny, about 8 to 10 minutes. Form into a ball.
• Lightly grease a large bowl (at least twice as large as your ball of dough). Put the dough round side down in the greased bowl, then turn over so that the greased side is up. Cover with a slightly damp towel. Put in a warm place (or as warm as you have in the winter, but not a lit oven). Let it rise until doubled, about 75 minutes. You don't want to leave the dough too long, however. Dough can actually over-rise.
• Punch down the dough. Reshape into a ball. Recover bowl. Let rise till double. It should take less time this time around, but it varies -- maybe 45 - 60 minutes. All of these rises can take longer if your house is cold.
• If using a prune filling, simmer them with some water until soft; mash thoroughly. Let cool.
• If desiring an apricot filling but not having access to canned Solo filling, you can make it out of dried apricots. Snip 3/4 cups of dried apricots into small pieces. Simmer,covered, with 1-1/2 cups water for 10 minutes. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes more. Stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Let cool before using.
• Pinch off balls of dough about 1.5 inches in diameter. Pat out into a circle. Put a spoonful of filling inside. Fold over and seal. Put in pan. Parchment-lined cookie sheets work well. The recipe doesn't say it, but I'd leave some room between them because they'll grow during the next rise -- yep, let rise again. This rise should be 45 - 60 minutes.
• Make topping: crumble together 1.25 cups flour, sugar and butter.
• Make a groove in the center of each and put on a big pinch of topping. Bake at 350°F until nicely golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
• NOTE: This is how my recipe card reads; however, I swear that I remember her making them the following way. Pinch off the ball of dough. Make an indentation in it. Fill with a spoonful of the filling. Sprinkle topping on it before baking.