Klobasneks Food

KLOBASNEK (SAUSAGE KOLACHES)

Steps:

• Over medium heat, warm the milk and 4 tablespoons of the butter until the milk is just beginning to steam, but is not boiling, and the butter is melted. Remove from the heat.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Pour in the warm milk mixture and stir until a sticky dough has formed. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, beat together the oil and egg yolks. Pour the eggs into the flour mixture and blend until fully incorporated. Slowly stir in enough of the remaining 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour until the dough comes together and is soft but not sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until it is smooth.
• Place the kneaded dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into 8 even-size pieces. In your hands, roll the pieces of dough into balls and then flatten them into disks 4 inches in diameter. In the center of each piece of dough, place 1/2 tablespoon of the cheddar cheese, 2 slices of jalapeño, and a piece of sausage. Fold one side of the dough over the other and roll, then seal by pinching on all sides. Place on the baking sheet 1 inch apart, seam side down. Cover and allow to rise for 45 more minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Brush the tops of the klobasneks with half the melted butter. Bake, uncovered, for 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly browned. After you remove them from the oven, brush each klobasnek with the remaining melted butter. Serve warm. They are best on the day they are made, but they can be tightly wrapped and then reheated, up to 2 days after baking. They can also be frozen.

TEXAS SAUSAGE KOLACHES (KLOBASNEKS)

Steps:

• Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Remove from heat immediately. Stir sugar, salt, and 1/4 cup butter into the milk and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
• Combine warm water and yeast in the large bowl of a stand mixer and stir until dissolved. Stir in cooled milk mixture, eggs, and 2 cups flour. Beat using the dough hook attachment until smooth. Add remaining flour, mixing as you go, just until dough is elastic and slightly stiff, but not dry.
• Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and very elastic, 10 to 15 minutes. Coat dough lightly with butter or oil and place in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let sit in a warm place to double in size, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, cut sausages in half and pat dry; this is important. Thinly slice Cheddar cheese block from the short end so that each slice of cheese is about the same length as the halved sausages.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a baking sheet.
• Turn risen dough out onto a very lightly floured board. Roll into a log, cut into 5 equal pieces, and cut each piece into quarters to make 20 equal-sized pieces of dough. Use the palm of your hand to flatten and press 1 piece into a circle or oval. Place the circle on the board and add 1 piece of Cheddar cheese topped with 1 dry halved sausage. Roll dough around fillings and very tightly pinch all seams together to seal. Smooth seams down and place kolache on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling to make 20 kolaches.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

SAUSAGE KOLACHES - KLOBASNICKY

Steps:

• Beat together warm water, sugar, yeast, 1 cup warm milk and 1 3/4 cups flour thoroughly and let stand for 1 hour.
• (I usually make the sponge in a large metal bowl, and let it sit in a barely warm oven for the hour. I preheat my oven to 170, then open the door of it to let some of the heat escape for about 3 to 5 minutes. BE SURE TO TURN YOUR OVEN OFF! I cover the bowl with a clean flour sack towel and pop it in.).
• Add Crisco, 1/4 cup warm milk, salt, egg yolks and 2 1/4 cups flour. Beat well and let rise until double in bulk.
• ( when I put the sponge in the barely warmed oven, I microwave the Crisco. It's really hot, so I let it stand out while the sponge is perculating. If you put the Crisco in when it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. The results are not pretty, lol. I usually use butter flavored Crisco.).
• Then work down (stir it with a wooden spoon. It releases all the "air" trapped in it. The dough will be very soft, and a little sticky.).
• Make the parts for each sausage roll. Cover the sausage and cheese with the dough you have patted out.( I use a silpat, and pat each golf ball size blob down to a rectange about 3 inches by 5 inches and about 1/4 of an inch thick.) Make sure to seal the cheese and sausage up well, and place the seam side down on the sheet pan.
• (It's hard to put an exact measurement on this because some like to use the big sausages, and others the little smokies. I usually use about a golf ball size for the sausages that are about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter. Any more, and I have way too much breading around the sausage. This dough really grows after the 2nd rise.).
• Beat the egg and water together to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash over the tops of the kolaches. (This makes them a beautiful golden brown. I usually reserve the 2 egg whites that I separate from the yolks for the dough and it has worked like a charm for me.).
• Let rise 15 minutes. (I've found that 15 minutes is plenty, because the kolaches continue to puff up in the oven. I've left them overnight, and it caused the bread to be too spongy, and they went stale very quickly.).
• Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
• Some additional notes: I've made these in a bread machine on the dough setting and just dumped everything in for the sponge and the dough. It's a lot less work, but after it is baked, the bread does not have the fine texture the it does when you do all of the steps as listed.
• Also, underestimate the amount of dough you need to wrap around your filling. If the yeast that you have used is fresh, a little dough goes a long way!
• Some fillings that I have tried are apple butter, bacon, egg and cheese, ham and cheese, strawberry jam with cream cheese. Anytime I use jam, I freeze the jam in one of those ice trays that make long tubes of ice for water bottles, and I brush the dough with a little melted butter before I put the "jam cube" on it to prevent sogginess. These are a hit with my children.

TEXAS SAUSAGE KOLACHES (KLOBASNEK)

Steps:

• Pour the warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Add 1 teaspoon of the sugar and the yeast. Stir to combine. Let this sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast, it will be bubbly and foamy.
• Stir together the eggs, melted butter, milk, remaining sugar, and salt.
• Add this mixture to the yeast mixture in the bowl. Pour in half of the flour.
• Using a dough hook, mix until combined.
• Add the remaining flour and mix. Dough will be sticky. Continue to knead for another 2-3 minutes, dough will still be sticky.
• Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour on a clean working surface. Using your hands or a silicone spatula scrape all of the dough onto the floured surface.
• Using your hands, knead the dough 2-3 times until dough forms into a smooth ball thanks to the small amount of extra flour on your work-surface.
• Pour the teaspoon of oil into a large bowl and spread around to coat the bottom half of the bowl, then place the dough in the bowl, spin and turn over so the top of the dough is lightly greased.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
• After 40 minutes, while dough is still rising, add the sausages to a large skillet and cook until warmed through, turning while they cook to ensure all sides are lightly seared.
• Remove the cover from the bowl, punch the dough down, then remove the dough to a work surface lightly sprinkled with the remaining tablespoon of flour.
• Press the dough into a rectangular shape, approximately 7 inches by 5 inches.
• Cut the dough into 12 equal square shapes.
• Prepare a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.
• Working with one piece of dough at a time, press the dough into a larger square shape, approximately 3 inches by 3 inches. Place a half slice of cheese on one side, then lay the sliced jalapeño on top, then the sausage.
• Roll the dough and pinch together where it meets.
• Place on the prepared baking sheet with the seam side down.
• Press some sliced jalapeno on the top of the dough if desired.
• Continue until all the kolaches are prepared. Place the kolaches on the baking sheet with approximately 1/2 to 1 inch of space in between, they rise while they bake, but it's ok if they run into each other.
• Cover and let rise for an additional 45 minutes.
• While rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Remove the cover from the kolaches, prepare the egg wash by beating the egg with the water. Then brush this over the top of the dough.
• Bake for 14-15 minutes until the tops are golden. Turn the baking sheet during the middle of baking if needed for even browning.
• Remove from the oven, combine the melted butter and honey, and brush this on top of the kolaches while they are still hot.
• Let cool for several minutes, then serve warm.