Judy Vaupel's Kolaches

This recipe was shared with me from Judy Vaupel.

In this recipe you must first activate the yeast. That means you add the yeast to warm water (90-115 degrees) along with a little sugar. In several minutes the yeast should start to "grow". Once it has shown that it will grow, you then add it to the milk mixture that has cooled off.

As with all yeast products, it needed to rise until doubled. At that time I punched it down and then portioned it into balls the approximate size of a golf ball. Letting it rise again took another 30 minutes and then I could use my fingers to pull a "well" into the middle of the ball.

The filling I used was a homemade apricot and a purchased cherry pie filling. The apricot was made by cooking dry apricots with sugar and water. Once they were tender I blended them in the food processor to make it a slightly chunky mixture.

The color of the kolaches is a golden brown around the edges, with slightly darker spots in the area where more heat hit.

The first bite confirms that the yeast portion was light and airy with a very slight chewy aspect. The yeast flavor was light and it combined well with the sweetness of the filling.

These kolaches were challenging to make as a new baker. Portioning the dough and shaping it was the hardest part.