Homemade Sausage Kolaches

PanNan's Note:

These are mouthwatering. Make plenty for a weekend breakfast. It's worth the effort! They freeze well, too, and can be heated in the oven at 350 for about 12 - 14 minutes, or in the microwave for a few seconds if thawed (about 1 1/2 minutes if frozen). Very convenient for a grab and go breakfast.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 12 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages dry yeast
• 1/2 cup water, lukewarm
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup shortening or 1/4 cup lard
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted, for topping
• 1 (16 ounce) package cocktail smoked sausage links

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast with the water.
2. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and 1/4 cup sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Mix in the egg yolks, milk, and salt, combining well.
5. Stir in the dissolved yeast and the flour, and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly blended into a soft dough.
6. Cover the dough with a towel, and set the dough aside to rise to about double in size, approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
7. Grease a baking sheet.
8. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a golf ball, flatten the balls slightly, and transfer them to the baking sheet.
9. Place the balls at least 1 inch apart, and brush them liberally with the melted butter.
10. Set them aside to double in size again, about 45 minutes to one hour.
11. Gently indent the top of the dough with your thumb, fairly deep.
12. Place the little pinky size smoked sausage link (could be a spicy sausage link, or could add cheese and/or jalapeno with the sausage link, too) in the indent and fold the kolache over the sausage and seal.
13. Bake in 425 oven for 10- 12 minutes or until golden brown.
14. Immediately brush butter on the top.
15. They are best eaten as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Reviews

[uyko24]

I made these kolaches this morning and they were not difficult to make but I must admit they were not very good. I'm from texas and I know what sausage kolaches should be like. My main problem was the kolache bread, the bread of this recipe was dense and had the consistency of a biscut kolaches should have a soft, light ,delicate, slightly sweet taste of the bread on the interior and the exterior should have a slight crispy, toasty but buttery outside the sausage and cheese and jalapeno speak for themselves bring their own flavor so I give a one star. at first I thought that yeast didnt activate correctly because my dough didn't rise very much but from the remarks posted on this recipe maybe I wasn't wrong. Well I will try this recipe one more time and If I have the same result back to the drawing board.

[Greffete]

I made these according to the exact recipe and I'm sorry to say I was very disappointed. They were OK but not very good. The dough finished dense and a bit tasteless. Sorry I could not give a better review, I won't be making these again.

[erin7311]

I made these this morning and after 2-3 hours of waiting to eat what was supposed to be great....I ended up with sausages wrapped in a dense, flavorless bread, versus a kolache.