Martha's Kolaches

5.0

(3)

3 Reviews

This easy version of these favorite sweet yeasted pastries should not be missed.

Martha Stewart

Updated on December 18, 2024

Servings:

Martha’s kolaches are her easy take on the rich, tender yeasted bun filled with jam or sweet cheese enjoyed for breakfast, snack, or dessert. Some kolache dough needs to rise twice and be refrigerated for as much as a day, but Martha’s recipe kickstarts the process and only needs 30 minutes of chilling (though she says a little longer is fine too.) Fill them with your favorite jam and drizzle the bowtie-shaped pastries with a sweet glaze of confectioners’ sugar, butter, and milk once they’ve cooled.

Kolaches originated in the Czech province of Bohemia and came to the U.S. with immigrants to the Great Plains and Texas in the 1800s. That gave these irresistible pastries a fan base across a wide swath of the country and they're only becoming more popular. Try making them yourself and you'll find out why.

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Ingredients

Kolaches

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (not rapid-rise; one whole ¼-ounce envelope)
¼ cup sour cream, room temperature
2 large eggs
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
6 tablespoons fruit jam

Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 to 3 tablespoons whole milk

Directions

Combine yeast and sour cream; let stand, add eggs:

In a small bowl, stir together yeast and sour cream. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes. Whisk in eggs until smooth.
Mix dry ingredients; add butter:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add yeast mixture, knead lightly, wrap and refrigerate:

Stir in yeast mixture. Knead in bowl a few times until dough is smooth and comes together. Wrap dough in plastic and flatten into a square. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven; roll out dough and cut into squares:

Preheat oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3-inch square cutter, cut out squares. Transfer to two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Fill and fold:

Place 1 teaspoon jam in the center of each square. Fold upper-right corner over filling, about two-thirds of the way toward opposite corner; press down to seal. Brush lower-left corner with egg wash, then fold corner up and over first fold, pressing down to adhere. Repeat with remaining squares.

Be careful not to fold too tightly, or you may force out some of the filling.
Bake and cool:

Bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let kolaches cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Make glaze:

In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and butter. While whisking, drizzle in milk, a little at a time, until glaze has a runny consistency. Using a spoon, drizzle glaze over kolaches. Let stand until set, 1 hour.