Great Grandma’s Kolaches
…with Brisket
Makes 16 buns
INGREDIENTS
Kolaches
3/4 cup water
3 t yeast
3 T sugar
4 eggs
6T butter
6 cups flour
2-3T heavy cream (plus additional for brushing)
Filling
1 pound shredded brisket meat
16 Slices of cheese (we like Cheddar)
Pickles or relish
Mustard Sauce
Mustard Sauce
1 cup yellow mustard
3T apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3T honey
3T Worcestershire
salt and pepper to taste
My great Aunt Fern sent me this recipe from her mother’s kolach, which was one of her specialties. We have a lot of leftover smoked meat in our house, so of course, I had to try it with smoked brisket inside. Plus, you will want to make this mustard sauce. It’s incredible! Served with a veggie on the side, this is a perfect dinner, and the buns are fun to pick up and eat with your hands, so kids love them too!
Prepare the Kolach Dough
In a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine warm water (around 90 degrees – warm to the touch but not hot, or you will kill the yeast) with the yeast and sugar.
Once it is foamy, add the remaining ingredients except the heavy cream.
Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to a minute. It will be dry. Add the heavy cream until it comes together as a soft dough.
Spray with water and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Prepare the Buns
Once the dough has grown and had a chance to rest a bit, turn out onto a floured surface and knead to bring everything together. Sprinkle with flour so that the dough is not sticky. Portion into 3oz to 4oz balls.
Flatten the dough ball and spray with water. Fold in the sides and then turn over and roll into a tight ball. You can spray your surface with a little water if the dough is too dry, or roll in the flour if the dough becomes too wet to roll into a nice ball. Once all of the dough has been turned into balls, spray with the water and leave to rest a bit.
While the dough rests, mix together your filling. Which is basically just the chopped brisket and as much mustard sauce (or whatever your favorite BBQ sauce is) as you need to make the meat a little wet. I like to trim most of the fat from the brisket chunks, as it’s not going to render the fat and it makes an unfortunate mouthful.
The reason you rested the dough was to give it some time to relax. If you find that your dough will not stay flat and is pulling back to a ball, let it rest a little longer.
After resting, roll out each dough ball, starting with the edges. You want to leave the center thicker so that after you fold it all together, the top will be thick as the bottom. Hold the flattened dough in your hand and fill with a spoonful of brisket filling, a pickle or some relish if you decided to use and top with the slice of cheese.
Pull all the edges of the dough together so the filling is completely covered and the buns are sealed. This is why I put the cheese on last, so it is a little easier to manage this step.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet with the seam on the bottom. Brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with a little BBQ seasoning or salt and pepper. Spray the baking sheet with water. Leave in a warm place to rise a little more before baking. I usually let mine rest in the sunshine for about 30 minutes.
Spray for the last time with water making the parchment paper fairly wet. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
Enjoy!
Nutritional Breakdown
Per bun. (variations to filling may impact)
CALORIES 491 | FAT 9.8g | PROTEIN 9.5g | CARBOHYDRATES 28g
Stores in the fridge for a week.
To reheat, bake at 300 until internal temp reaches 165 degrees.
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