This really could be the perfect weekend. It began with a bouquet of my favorite smells—which in itself was the undoing of what had been a slow passing of my least favorite smell: Izzy’s dumping her displeasure thrice around the house (once in my favorite grey suede boot!) to let us know she does not approve of us vacationing without her over long weekends. Finally, the aroma is under control, and it is the smell of freshly ground Sleepy Monk, of warm cream cheese-filled kolatchen—a Czech delicacy—and of jazz songs stuck in my throat, ready to be sung. Stay tuned, literally, a long awaited recording is born this weekend.
Kolache with Cream Cheese and Currants
Inspired by the Joy of Cooking recipe, embellished by yours truly
Dough
Mix 3 c flour and 1-1/2 tsp salt in a bowl
Cut in 1/2 c butter (one stick—I grate the cold butter with a cheese grater)
Blend and add
2 beaten eggs
½ cup sour cream
½ cup plain yoghurt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Finally, add ¾ cup sourdough starter
Cover and chill 2 hours or more.
Pinch off two inch balls of the dough and press their centers down so that the edge is no more than ½ inch thick.
I used a square edged tin, and my fanciest of fancy liners because these were for the Calvary guests we hosted for our Film Club. Gran Torino makes me cry every time.
Into the centers, dollop the following filling. 
Filling: Beat together 2 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons flour and 1 cup of raisins ¾ cup cream cheese and ½ tsp vanilla and mix well.
Cover and let rise with the filling for 40 more minutes. Then bake at 375 for 20 more minutes. Top with confectioners sugar if you are feeling on the foo foo side. 
As seen here, my favorite Sourdough online community– www.sourdoughsurprises.blogspot.com
Think “The Italian Baker”!
Ed, I’m on it! Been doing several loaves– will post Pane Sciocco tomorrow or the next, it is wonderful
Oh my goodness, that looks amazing! Hope the flowers are making up for the Izzy-produced scents in your home 🙂 Also, I’m going to look for The Sleepy Monk next time I’m at the Oregon Coast! The name alone, not to mention your words of praise about their coffee make me think it’s a must-visit destination.
Muffin kolaches – I like it! I bet they were wonderful with fresh coffee 🙂
NIce, love your idea and how the muffins-kolache came out wonderfully wrapped in paper 🙂
Have a lovely day
Lou
Thanks and kudos to you as well– gorgeous work!
Thank you Rachel 🙂 Sourdough Surprises is always full of, well…surprises of course 😉
Delicious! Your kolaches look amazing! Love that you used square pans ! Thanks for baking with us again! (And I think I need some of that coffee, just the bag itself looks great!)
Thanks Jenni! The coffee is only available in Oregon, made at Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast. But I swear by it and have my family there send me a bag when they can. Then I savor every last drop. Love Sourdough Surprises!
Oh wow! I love this idea of putting them in a muffin pan. I’ll have to try!
I love the idea of baking these in the muffin tin/liners – genius! And I love the filling you chose – YUM. Thanks for baking with us!
So happy to have found this group– thanks for the love!
Fresh coffee and the aroma of baking cream cheese-filled kolache – that’s close to perfect all right!
Truly!
I like the paper idea, and thanks for your filling recipe. That has been so great about this: all the filling recipes ~ no one made the exact same thing. My kids are going to love baking day even more!
I concur– and creative ways to fold the dough and “tuck in” the filling. Thanks for perusing the attempt over here!
Looks like we had the same thought about square kolaches! Nice!