Remains of the Day - Cranberry Kolaches

Tuesday, November 19, 2013 Add Comment Edit

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you have some time and your holiday leftovers include a cup or so of cranberry sauce, you might want to give this recipe for cranberry kolaches a try. It comes from Taste of Home magazine and the rolls are quite easy to make. While the recipe below is fine, I do have one suggestion for those of you who plan to try them. Finely chop or dice, rather than grate, the apples. The grated apples have a porcupine like mien that I think spoils the appearance of the kolaches. While I often dispense with a glaze on this type of roll, the cranberry sauce is tart enough to warrant its use here. The rolls can be table ready in a bit less than two hours and I think you will enjoy them. Here is how they are made.

Cranberry Kolaches...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:
Buns
4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 large egg
Filling
1 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup grated peeled tart apple
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
2) In a saucepan, heat milk, water and butter to 120 - 130 degrees F. Add to dry ingredients beating just until moistened. Add egg and beat until smooth.
3) Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Do not knead. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Roll to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
5) Using back of a spoon, make a 1-1/2-inch wide well in center of each roll.
6) Combine cranberry sauce, grated apple and cinnamon and spoon into each well.
7) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
8) Combine confectioners' sugar, extract and enough milk to achieve drizzling consistency. Drizzle over rolls. Store in refrigerator. Yield: 18 buns.