Kolache dough

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Ingredients -

FOR A SMALL 3 DOZEN BATCH: (or 6 dozen)
1 cup milk scalded (2 cups)
1 1/2 packages dry yeast (2 pkgs.)
3 eggs well beaten (4 eggs)
1/2 cup sugar (3/4 cups)
1/2 cup Crisco oil (1 cup)
1 teaspoon salt (2+ teaspoons)
4 cups bread flour (approx.) (as needed, maybe 8 cups?)
Additional ingredients as needed and indicated in directions: Water, extra sugar, canned milk, melted butter.
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FOR A LARGER 12 DOZEN BATCH:
1 quart milk
3 packages dry yeast
8 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 pint Crisco oil
1 scant tablespoon salt
bread flour as needed (I have never actually measured, just mixed until dough is of desired consistency.)
Additional ingredients as needed and indicated in directions: Water, extra sugar, canned milk, melted butter.
Directions

Tips: The ingredients listed for the 3 dozen batch just isn’t worth your time and trouble. Maybe make this small batch the first time to just get the idea. I always use the ingredients listed to make the 12 dozen batch. Grandmas Original recipe called for melted butter instead of Crisco oil…we discovered the Crisco oil achieves a finished bread that stays softer longer. The flour MUST be a high gluten flour…this will be a “hard wheat” or “better for bread” flour.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in an additional 1/2 cup warm water with 2 tablespoons additional sugar.
Place the eggs in a large, heated mixing bowl and beat well; add sugar and scalded milk. Continue mixing. You will want to mix using a heavy duty stand mixer. Add oil and salt. Finally add yeast mixture. Continue beating.
Add flour slowly, mixing continuously. Mix as long as you can with heavy duty electric mixer, change to dough hook. Add flour until dough just starts to pull away from sides and “crawl” up dough hook. You do not want it to form a dough ball. You will probably need to add just a little more flour, you DO NOT want your dough so stiff that you could turn out on a board to knead with your hands. I have an old timey wooden spoon or paddle that I incorporate the extra flour by hand in a kneading motion. Your dough should NOT be as thick as for bread, but thick enough to be able to work with and form a soft ball that will not keep it’s shape but start spreading out. Knead real well until smooth and elastic and you can actually see little air bubbles under the skin of the dough.
I like to turn my dough out of my metal mixing bowl and place into a crock bread mixing bowl that has been warmed by sitting in hot water while I have been mixing dough. Dry the crock, brush crock with melted butter, turn dough into the bowl, brush top of dough with melted butter.
Place in warm place to rise. I will turn my oven on while mixing and then turn off and place the dough in the OPEN oven to rise…be careful, you do not want to kill your yeast.
When double in size, punch dough down and knead again, incorporating more air. Place back in oven to rise once more, brushing top with butter once more.
When double in size it is time to remove from oven and start working with your dough. Dump about half the dough out on to a floured counter top…it will spread out just a little.
With a knife, cut off a large walnut size chunk of dough. Drop onto your floured counter top. Continue cutting dough chunks until you get 35 to 40 chunks. You will get the “feel” of it after a while and all your chunks should be close to the same size. Butter bottom and sides well a large 17×12&1/2×1 inch jelly roll pan.
Starting with one of the first chunks you cut off…flour palms of your hands and get just a little extra flour onto your chunk of dough. You will roll each chunk of dough between palms of your hand, cupping fingers under as you roll to make a smooth, round ball.
Place on your buttered jellyroll pan about 1 inch apart in rows until the pan is filled…it should take 35 to 40 to fill a pan if your balls are the right size and you have placed correct distance apart. Brush the sides and tops of your balls with butter…set aside to rise while you fill more pans in the same manner. You will want a very, very soft pastry brush for this, I use an old fashioned feather brush. It will take each pan approximately 20 minutes to rise, you want them to be touching each other at this point.
You will need to fill your pastry now. Carefully punch holes or spread dough apart, using the first two fingers of each hand to form a cavity for your filling (filling will not be encased, but nested into the dough). Fill immediately; this almost takes 3 hands. This is a good time to get your spouse or children involved in the kitchen, this is how I learned how the dough should feel. I alternate flavors of fillings on each row so there will be an assortment. For instance I will do 2 rows of cherry, 2 rows of cheese, 2 rows of another flavor, etc. Place a little “crumb topping” on top, see my recipe for “Kolache – Fillings” for this recipe. Let rise again for another 15 minutes or so.
Place in oven and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. If using a convection oven bake at 360 for 15-18 minutes.
While still hot, brush with canned milk, again using a feather pastry brush. Brush the dough.
Sprinkle generously with granulated sugar.
Allow to cool in pans prior to removing. You don’t need to cut these apart with a knife, it will smash and tear the bread…just gently lift and pull apart like pull-apart rolls.
You can freeze whole pans or freeze individual servings…they freeze wonderfully…just freshen up by thawing (covered) then sprinkling with a little granulated sugar.