Kolaches

Both of my in-laws were great cooks.  My mother-in-law made the world's best potato salad and chocolate chip cookies. My father-in-law made pork chops that were out of this world. He told me his recipe one time and I really wish I would have wrote it down!!  Kolaches, potica (nut roll), pierogi and Slovenian sausages were almost always on the "menu" when we went to Cleveland to visit.  I have tried to make both potica and pierogi and the end results have not been pretty.  I'm not even going to attempt to make the Slovenian sausage :)  Kolaches, on the other hand, are more up my baking "alley." Back a handful of Christmases ago, I was turning my house upside down looking for a kolache recipe because my mother-in-law was coming over to visit from her assisted living facility where she lived and we had promised her we would make kolaches.  She didn't know her recipe off the top of her head, so I was really scrambling to find a recipe that didn't use yeast! I finally found one in a Christmas cookbook and the hubby, Lauren and my mother-in-law had a good time baking together.  Good memories for sure:

My mother-in-law cut the dough into squares, but I found a 2-inch round biscuit cutter works just as well. My father-in-law will be gone nine years in April and we just passed the three-year anniversary of my mother-in-law's passing in January.  Even though my hubby doesn't talk about it much, I know that he misses them.  I'm going to surprise him when he comes home from work tonight with these kolaches.  Maybe it's time to try again to make potica and pierogi!!! I'll let you know how it turns out :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups white flour

Strawberry preserves

1 tablespoon powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray two cookie sheets with non-stick spray.  Set aside. In medium bowl, put the butter and cream cheese and mix well with electric mixer or by hand until smooth.  Add the flour and combine well.  On a lightly floured counter or board, knead the dough about 10 times and then roll out to about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out 24 circles with the round cutter and put 12 on each cookie sheet.  Put 1/4 teaspoon of strawberry preserves in the middle of each circle and fold the opposite sides together, pressing gently. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the bottoms of the kolache are starting to brown. Remove immediately to wire rack.  When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.  Makes 24 cookies.