jam

Kolacky

My friend, Danusia, is originally from Poland, and came to Nashville by way of NY and Florida. She and her husband Bill came to dinner one day and she brought a LARGE bowl of these little irresistible pastries: Kolacky. Or Kolache. She said her mom made these all her life (a Polish recipe) but Danusia found the exact same recipe on Kroger’s website.

Kolacky

That night we all enjoyed the lovely dessert but there were so many (and so therefore leftovers), which didn’t last long since I single-handedly ate the rest by the end of the next day. Read: they’re SO good.

After some months passed without them I felt the need to re-create the yum and searched for the Kroger recipe. And found it. The tiny pastries have a cream cheese dough, soft and pliable. And the only other thing you need is jam.

Kolacky dough

The recipe below is a close version of Kroger’s since I can’t help but tinker.

ready to bake

And then I made a batch in chocolate. (Anything good, is also good in chocolate.)

chocolate dough

isn’t it fun to bake?

Bake these. They last for days (if you don’t polish them all off first). And they are capable of providing infinite delight.

Kolacky – 2 flavors

Kolacky Pastries

For the cream cheese dough:

2 ounces cream cheese

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

pinch salt

For the chocolate cream cheese dough:

2 ounces cream cheese

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

pinch salt

1/4 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons sugar

Filling/Topping:

1/2 cup jam strawberry, apricot, orange, or your favorite

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pulse the ingredients for each dough separately in a food processor until large dough curds form. Pull together dough and knead a little, then flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour or 2 or overnight.

Roll each dough out separately (working with one disk of dough at a time) to about 1/8” thick. Using a 1-1/2 inch or 2-inch square cutter, cut out squares from the rolled out dough. Place a 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center, Pinch together two opposite corners of the dough squares and fold slightly, pinching to close (so the dough stays together). Repeat with all the dough. Bake on a parchment-lined sheet pan for 20 minutes until lightly golden. Let cool completely before dusting lightly with powdered sugar.

sweet puff pastry twists

And almonds.

I love playing with puff pastry dough. I’ve used store-bought (in the freezer section) often. Making your own puff pastry dough is a major project–one that I usually have no time to do. (But try it at least once…it’s fun and a great learning experience as to what goes into the stuff–think BUTTER!).

I’ve used Pepperidge Farm brand, Dufour, and Trader Joe (which they only sell during holiday season — why is that? I don’t know). And they all work beautifully.

Here is a twisted recipe. You can try this twist with a lot of fillings. I used to make twists like these using biscuit dough and filling it with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Then glazing the finished twists with vanilla icing. A kind of cinnamon bun in a twist.

But here’s how this recipe goes (we did it in class, too).

Roll out one puff pastry sheet of dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it till it’s about 30 percent bigger than it started out. Keep the rectangular shape. Spread your favorite jam in a thin layer on top.

Meg & Tim making pastry twists

Meg spreading the jam

Now cut the dough in half lengthwise (I use a fluted cutting wheel). Separate the pieces a bit. On one half sprinkle mini-chocolate chips. Just in a single layer and you don’t have to fill ever spot. Place about a 1/2 cup of sliced almonds in a plastic bag. Roll a rolling pin over them crushing them into small pieces. Sprinkle the small pieces of almond on top of the mini chocolate chips. Place the half with just the jam over the other half face down (so the 2 jams sides are touching) lined up evenly. Now cut across the shorter end into 3/4-inch strips (again, I use the fluted wheel).

Give each strip a double twist and place them on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet.

ready to bake

Continue with the rest of the dough. Egg wash the strips. Sprinkle sparkling sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes until golden. Voila!

pastry twists in Kodachrome

Next time I’ll show you my fav savory pastry twist…with olive paste, sun-dried tomatoes and sesame seeds. But first: dessert!

Chef Paulette

A little bit of Italy at home.

Can you Kolacky? Here’s the recipe.

Twist Your Puff Pastry with Chocolate & Jam

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