Sausage and Cheese Kolaches

My sweet friend Vicky gave me this recipe. It is a tried and true recipe from her mother-in-law. They are 300 calories each, and one is pretty filling in the morning. The first time I tried to make these, I didn't use a thermometer. If you have never made homemade dough before, I would recommend using a baking thermometer. If you don't want to buy one, make sure the milk/water is warm (not lukewarm), but not scorching hot. I burned and killed the yeast the first time I made these, and the dough never rose. The second time I made them, they turned out great!

Ingredients
2 envelopes yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp yeast)
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 cups milk
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
6-7 cups sifted flour
softened butter, as needed
20 sausage links (we like the already cooked Eckridge breakfast sausage)
10 slices of cheddar cheese

Directions
1. In a small bowl dissolve yeast in warm water (110 degrees). Sprinkle sugar (1 tbsp.) over water mixture and let stand ten minutes to proof yeast.
2. Warm milk to 110 degrees, stir in butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Let butter melt into milk mixture.
3. Pour milk and yeast mixtures into large bowl. Add salt and egg yolks.
4. Slowly add 6-7 cups of flour. Knead dough on a lightly floured board (10-15 min). Use extra flour if dough is too wet.
5. Place in bowl, cover and let rise until double (1-2 hours). Punch down dough.
6. Divide into 2 parts. Form each part into a ball and roll out like a pie crust only larger in diameter–about 1/8 – 1/4″ thick.
7. Divide each circle into 9-10 wedges.
8. Place a half slice of cheese on the wide end of the wedge. Then place a sausage on the cheese. Wind up wedge beginning at the wide end. Seal well, making sure that ends of rolled kolaches don’t have open spots where cheese can run out.
9. Place kolaches on cookie sheets and let rise, covered, about 1 hour.
10. Bake at 350-375 degrees 10-20 minutes.
11. Brush with softened butter and cool on a rack.

Store in a single layer in refrigerator as stacking the kolaches, especially if they’re still a little warm. You can put them into big freezer bags to keep longer. They only take about 45 seconds to heat up in my microwave. So quick and so yummy!