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Dutch Apple Kolaches Recipe – Make at Home

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Dutch Apple Kolaches have a soft and tender dough that is perfect for holding your favorite filling. They taste like you bought them at a bakery but are easy enough to make at home.

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPGRADED FROM 10/27/14 TO IMPROVE READER EXPERIENCE.
A browned kolache roll filled with baked apples and topped with a cinnamon crumble sitting on a floral plate and blue napkin. A cup of coffee and a tray of rolls sit behind it.

Apple Kolaches have a warm sweet apple filling nestled in a soft kolache dough. They’re delicious for breakfast with a cup of coffee. This easy Kolache recipe makes 28 rolls so they’re perfect for company.

I LOVE baked goods. You name it, sweet rolls, donuts, pastries or in this case, a Dutch Apple Kolache made in my own kitchen.

What are Kolaches?

I didn’t really know too much about Kolaches when I first started making them, except for the fact that they were delicious and I thought that they were a Bohemian or Czech creation.

They’re defined as “a type of pastry that holds a dollop of fruit rimmed by a puffy pillow of supple dough”. They also stated that they originated in “Central Europe”.

Ya right, they said that so they didn’t start any Kolache wars. There are several articles from different heritages claiming that they were the originators of this pastry. Nebraska, Minnesota and Texas also claim to be the “Kolache Capital of the World”.

I am a mixed breed with no claim to Kolaches’ origination. I’m just the baker and even combined heritages to come up with this Kolache recipe version (gasp). So, I guess this Kolache does come from my heritage (pompous opinion only).

How to Make Kolache dough

  • Mix of yeast, liquid and sugar start to bubble when activated with a whisk in a glass bowl
    Freshly mixed yeast, liquid, and sugar.
  • A ball of soft dough in a glass bowl.
    Smoothly kneaded Kolache dough
  • Soft kolache dough after rising to the top of bowl
    Kolache dough after rising.
  1. Activate yeast with liquid and sugar. Activating your yeast isn’t necessary if using Instant, Quick or Rapid rise yeast. You can mix all ingredients together if that’s the case.
  2. Add all dough ingredients together and knead the dough until it is smooth, approximate 7 to 8 minutes.
  3. Let dough rise until doubled, approximately 60 to 90 minutes.

There’s a video in the recipe card to show you how easy these Apple Kolaches are to make!

What are Kolache Recipes filled with?

As I said, I knew they were yummy and that the dough isn’t overly sweet so this same kolache dough recipe can be used with a sweet or savory filling.

This easy Kolache recipe is often filled with pie filling or jam, purchased or homemade is fine. Traditionally the fillings are apricot, cherry, prune, or poppyseed, but could also be meat such as sausage, or a soft farmers cheese. In the bakeries here, I see a lot of kolaches with a combination of fruit and cheese.

Apple filling full of diced apples, brown sugar and cinnamon

I made this warm cinnamon and brown sugar apple filling. It’s delicious on it’s own and amazing in this Kolache recipe!

Back to the Kolache itself. The first time I made this recipe was to use up some pears sitting on my counter and came up with an amazing Caramelized Pear filling that tasted amazing nestled in this soft kolache dough too.

I love apples and especially baked apples in a warm cinnamon-brown sugar mix. This Apple Kolache recipe certainly ranks up there with my all-time favorite bakery recipes.

I love baked goods! Here are a few more of my favorites!

Kitchen Gadgets You may need:

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  • Baking Sheets – These sheet pans are durable and I have four of them so I can get all of my cookies baked in a jiffy!
  • Food Scale – This scale is what I use to get rolls and buns the same size. I also use it for measuring ingredients in many of my bread recipes.
  • Glass Mixing Bowls – This set allows me to prep all of my ingredients and they’re dishwasher safe.

Tips:

  • Kolaches can be frozen after baking and cooled in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
  • The dough doesn’t need to be weighed. You can just estimate their size. The most important thing is that they’re all approximately the same size so they bake at the same rate.
  • When forming your dough don’t press through the bottom of the roll. Your filling will leak out.
  • Dice your fruit small enough so you can get a lot of it in each Kolache. It may bake down and that’s perfectly fine.
A browned kolache roll filled with baked apples and topped with a cinnamon crumble sitting on a floral plate and blue napkin. A cup of coffee and a tray of rolls sit behind it.
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5 from 7 votes

Dutch Apple Kolaches Recipe – Made At Home

Dutch Apple Kolaches recipe has a warm cinnamon and brown sugar apple filling nestled in a soft kolache dough. They taste bakery delicious but are easy enough to make at home.
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Rising time 2 hrs 30 mins
Total Time 3 hrs 20 mins
Servings 28
Author Hostess At Heart

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

Dough

  • ½ oz Yeast or 2-packages
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cups whole milk warmed to 110 – 115 degrees F
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour may need an up to an additional cup
  • 4 egg yolks room temperature
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened

*Apple Filling (optional)

  • 4 apples Granny Smith or Braeburn (about 4 cups diced)
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp water
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp corn starch

Streusel (optional)

  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter

Additional Ingredients: melted butter or egg wash

    Instructions

    Dough

    • In a small bowl, dissolve yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar and warm milk. *Let rest for 10 minutes.
    • In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add butter, egg yolks and yeast/milk mixture. Add enough remaining flour until no longer too sticky to handle.
    • Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 to 8 minutes. Place dough into a greased bowl, turning once to coat both sides. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 60 to 90 minutes.
    • Butter (or grease) 3 baking sheets. Cover a kitchen scale with plastic wrap. Punch dough down and tear off 1 1/2 ounce pieces of dough. Shape into smooth round balls with seams on the bottom. Place 12 on each greased baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and allow to double, approximately 60 minutes.
    • Using your thumbs, make a depression in each roll large enough to hold 1 to 2 tablespoons of filling. Don't press through the bottom of the roll. Brush with melted butter again or use an egg wash with the left over egg whites. Fill with desired filling. Sprinkle with streusel if desired.
    • Bake at 350° F for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn and rotate pans halfway through baking.

    Dutch Apple Filling

    • In a 2 quart saucepan combine diced apples, water and the juice of one lemon.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally for 8 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and allow to cool while dough rises. NOTE: Add an additional tbsp of corn starch if filling doesn't thicken. Water content can be very different according to variety.

    Streusel (optional)

    • Whisk the flour, sugar and cinnamon together. Drizzle with the melted butter and fluff together with a fork.

    Video

    Notes

    1. Instant or Quick Rise yeasts don’t have to bloom and can be added directly to the recipe.
    2. Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

    Nutrition

    Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 106mg | Potassium: 100mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 165IU | Vitamin C: 3.2mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1.3mg
    This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
    Tried this recipe? That’s awesome!Mention @hostessatheart or tag #hostessatheart!

    Leave me a comment below and tell me what your favorite bakery item is. It may show up right here! If you liked this recipe leave me a 5-star review while you’re at it.

    Comments

    1. Nikki Lee says

      I cannot wait to make this these fall! Thank you for a magnificent recipe! I just hope mine turn out as beautifully as these do!

      Reply

    2. Sandra Shaffer says

      These kolaches are beautiful! I ate a lot of pastries when we were in Europe, but I don’t think I had kolaches. So excited to give these a try!

      Reply

    3. Healing Tomato says

      I had never heard of Kolaches before, but, its definitely something I would like to try now, The apples look delicious and easy to make

      Reply

    4. Debi says

      Anything with a Streusel topping is tops in my book. These are perfect for fall when I want apples! Thanks so much!

      Reply

    5. Michaela Kenkel says

      These are the most beautiful kolaches I have ever laid eyes on!! You give such wonderful instructions, I know I can mater this!! tIme to get out of my comfort zone and make these this week!!

      Reply

    6. Deb Clark says

      My goodness these are delicious. It was the perfect breakfast with coffee this morning. Thank you for another amazing recipe!!

      Reply

    7. michele says

      Im always intimidated by yeast baking… but THANK you for the step by step photos. It made it super clear to know exactly how my dough should look! They turned out beautifully! We devoured them..

      Reply

      • Julie Menghini says

        Thank you so much, Elizabeth for letting me know that you made them and that they were a success for you!

        Reply

    9. Dody says

      Hi, found this recipe a bit late it seems. I the recipe, it calls for whole milk. Is that the 3.5%mf homogenized (spelled it wrong 🙁 ) milk or another kind?

      Reply

      • Julie Menghini says

        Hi Dody, thank you for visiting Hostess At Heart! You can use any milk marked as whole milk. I just wouldn’t use a reduced fat milk such as skim milk. Does that help? Enjoy your day.

        Reply

    10. Olga Brajnović says

      Kolace in Croatian means pastries, in general. All of them. The word brings me memories of my mom in the kitchen, kneading the dough, and baking delicious pastries for us. Thank you for the recipe and for the memories.

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Olga, I am so happy to hear that you have a history with these pastries. Isn’t that what food is about? Creating memories with those that we share? Thank you so much for visiting!

        Reply

    13. Arl's World says

      I am Czech and my mother made these from scratch all the time when I was growing up! Hers were the best!! I have wonderful memories of all of her delicious baked goods. Unfortunately I never got her recipe for these … Ah if only I had appreciated the value of recipes such as these then. Now it is to late to get her recipe, but yours looks and sounds wonderful. Now I have a new one! 🙂 Happy FF!

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        We have an entire town that is Czech. They have a festival and boy can get some amazing food. Many of my grandmothers recipes have been lost. It is very sad.

        Reply

    16. Nancy says

      Pear anything always sparks a craving for me! Love, love, love the use of them in kolaches. You brought back a flood of memories for me, as my grandmother always made these. Her recipe is difficult to read, so I’m pinning this for my holiday baking. Thank you!! 😀

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Thank you Nancy. I don’t know if your grandmother would like what I did, but they sure taste good and are easy to make.

        Reply

    20. celebratingsunshine24 says

      You might want to check this: https://www.balticmaid.com/2011/12/romanian-sweet-cheese-and-raisin-pastries/ or this: https://homecookinginmontana.blogspot.com/2009/01/romanian-cozonac-nut-filled.html

      Reply

    21. celebratingsunshine24 says

      Wow, they look amazing! We had something similar in Romania. I’m going to tell you a secret: they go well with wine. Cheers! 🙂
      Love, love, love your pictures!

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Ha! Some are filled with meat and cheese. These would definitely be wine worthy! 🙂 What did you call them and what were they filled with?

        Reply

        • celebratingsunshine24 says

          Haha! Wine worthy – I like that. They were filled mainly with cheese, but also with any kind of jam or poppyseed. As for the names – they have different names, but I think the most popular is “pateuri”. (this is the plural)

          Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Thanks Sarah! I enjoyed making them, and have some in the freezer for another day.javascript:void(0)

        Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Thank you so much. I had a lot of fun making these. There is so many thinks you can fill these with!

        Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Thank you. They are very good and probably have a different name according to whomever is making them.

        Reply

    25. joannamurnan says

      Wow, these are gorgeous! I want to try to make these some afternoon when I have some time to experiment. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. I actually made them while making Halloween cookies with my 4 year old neighbor. It worked well because I was busy during raising time.

        Reply

    26. petra08 says

      They look delicious! Am so impressed you made your own (I am a bit of a lousy baker), they look professional! 🙂

      Reply

    29. Bunny Eats Design says

      These look delicious! I think there are many versions of fruit pastries the world over so adapting them a little with your own heritage couldn’t possibly be sacrilege!

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        I think you are correct. Heck theres a town in Texas that even claimed them :). Thank you so much for stopping. I really look forward to connecting with Our Growing Edge.

        Reply

    31. davegon says

      Wow, these look great, Julie! I only heard about these on Saturday as I was websurfing, but what a coincidence!

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Thanks Dave! We have town around here that actually have festivals where Kolaches are the stars. I know what you mean in coincidences! Seems like as soon as I think of something I want to post it shows up in several places. 🙂

        Reply

    33. Cynthia Cover says

      These remind me of rasberry jam thumb print cookies my step mom and I used to make for the holidays as gifts. They look delicious and I might have to try this recipe 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

      Reply

      • Julie is HostessAtHeart says

        Thanks Cynthia! These are about the size of a danish though. If you make them, let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by!

        Reply

    35. Loretta says

      These look amazing Julie….I wonder how it would taste with ready made puff pastry made into pinwheels, with a slight indentation?
      I’m thinking “quick” for now, cos I too have some pears that are about to say goodbye 🙂 It looks wonderful!

      Reply

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