Kolaches

For the filling:
Bring thawed cherries, sugar, and water to a boil in a saucepan then lower the heat a bit and let it simmer for about 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Make sure to stir occasionally while filling simmers so it does not burn. Add cornstarch about 10 minutes before you stop simmering. I had to use cornstarch because my filling was too runny, so you might just need to use less water. The filling should be the consistency of jam. This can be made a few days before.

For the dough:
Heat milk and 1/2 cup butter to lukewarm in a saucepan over medium low heat. Then remove it from the heat.

In a large bowl, mix sugar, yeast, salt and vanilla and then add warm milk and butter mixture. Let the mixture sit a few minutes until yeast dissolves. Add 2 cups flour to mixture and mix well. Then keep adding flour a little at a time until dough is not runny (for me it was about 5 1/2 to 6 cups flour).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, working in a little more flour at a time. Don’t knead too much, dough should still be sticky. When the dough has come together, place it in a buttered bowl and let it rise until doubled in size.

After dough rises, pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a large egg and place on a buttered 9″x13″ pan. This pan size will hold 12 pieces. Repeat until all of the dough has been used, using another buttered pan if you need to.

Then brush the top of the dough balls with melted butter and let them rise until doubled in size.

For the topping:
Mix flour, sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl to make a crumbly mixture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

After dough rises for the second time, shape a hole in the middle of the balls by sticking 3 of your fingers into the center and spreading them apart until it makes a small circle.

Use about a tablespoon of filling and put it into the middle of each piece of dough, making sure not to over fill. Then sprinkle with topping, and brush with some more melted butter.

Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with more melted butter. Let them cool a few minutes, then devour!

This recipe makes 3 dozen kolaches.