Jalapeno Pork Sausage and Cheddar Kolaches

Jalapeno Pork Sausage and Cheddar Kolaches
by Mary Wolter Makowski
adapted from Dorothy Kubena's Award Winning Recipe

Mrs. Dorothy Kubena has been winning awards for her kolaches at fairs and kolache festivals in Caldwell and Burleson Counties of Texas since at least 1987.  And so it was with great delight that I found her award winning recipe in Texas Highways Magazine and whipped some up on a weekend for Sunday breakfast, stuffed with Teet's Food Store's amazing jalapeno sausage and some cheddar cheese. Go ahead! Stuff more sausage in than I did. Much more. This dough can take it! It puffs up so pretty in the oven. Together, they remind me of the best things in Central Texas: smoked meat and kolaches. And Sunday mornings in the crisp fall weather.  No worries that this sausage is from Ville Platte, Louisiana, because Texans have reciprocity with Louisiana.  We love their food as much as they love ours over here on this side of the Sabine River. And this sausage -- hoo-wee!  It is a delicious smoky link of pure pork studded with lots of flavorful jalapeno. 

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs, beaten
4 cups all-purpose flour + up to and additional 1/2 cup 

20 pieces of Teet's Smoked Jalapeno Pork Sausage, about 2 inches long and cut in half lengthwise

20 pieces of cheddar about 1/2 the size of the sausage sliced from a cheddar block or 20 pinches of grated cheddar 

(alternatively, use Teet's Smoked Jalapeno Cheese Pork Sausage!)

Heat the sour cream gently until just warm. Stir in the sugar, salt, and softened butter until the butter is melted; set aside to cool to room temperature.  Sprinkle the yeast over warm water and let stand until the yeast dissolves. Pour the sour cream mixture into a mixer bowl and add the yeast/water mixture.  Add the beaten eggs and flour, and mix until soft and smooth.

If necessary, work in enough additional flour to make dough spongy but not sticky (I used an extra 1/4 cup to achieve this). Put the dough in a large, greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator. It will be very easy to work with, a bit like play dough.  Shape into 20 balls about 1-1/2 inches in diameter each, and place on parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheets (two standard) about an inch apart.   Flatten the balls to 1/2-inch, cover with plastic wrap and allow them to rest for about 10 minutes.  

Place a sausage on each flattened dough ball and pull the dough over it, sealing the edge and ends, to enclose the sausage completely.  Put the seam on the bottom and smooth out the dough on top. Cover them with plastic wrap and allow them to rise for 1 hour; they won’t necessarily double in bulk.

Bake the kolaches at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until they are tanned on top. Brush them with melted butter when they come out of the oven.