This delicious Texas style kolache recipe, or klobasnek, is a soft, slightly sweet dough stuffed with sausage and cheese! A classic Texas breakfast.
Okay, first things first. These are not real czech kolaches. Technically, they are klobasnek. As Texas Monthly put it, If It’s Not Sweet, It’s Not a Kolache – It’s a Klobasnek. But, it’s what is commonly known in Texas and for the sake of search-ability I have named it kolache.
So please don’t come at me in the comments, I promise I know what is and isn’t a kolache.
I’ve been in the PNW for almost a year now. There are a few things I miss about Texas – late night runs to Whataburger, HEB and decent Tex Mex food. Thankfully, I have been able to recreate my favorites up here or find a decent alternative. But for a while there was something that still eluded me – soft, pillowy donuts and sausage kolaches.
If I close my eyes, I can still imagine walking into a Shipleys at 6am… the air so sweet it’s almost like you can taste it.
I haven’t mastered the donut yet, but I am so pleased with today’s recipe. It tastes just like the sausage kolaches I remember.
It is a little laborious, but it is one of love. This dough requires two proofs, but it’s easy enough to set aside and get a few chores done or enjoy an hour of TV.
These tools aren’t totally necessary, but I promise they will make your life a whole lot easier. Get yourself a decent rolling pin (and ditch the wine bottle you’ve been using for the past 6 months), a dough scraper, parchment paper or a silpat, a quality pastry brush (Boar bristles retain more butter and is easier to spread, in my opinion), and a thermometer to test your water (too hot and it will kill the yeast).
Armed with the right tools, I think you’ll be very successful with this recipe!
Let me know what you think!
Until next time. X
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Texas Style Kolache Recipe
Texas Style Kolache Recipe – aka Klobasnek
This delicious Texas style kolache recipe, or klobasnek, is a soft, slightly sweet dough stuffed with sausage and cheese! A classic Texas breakfast.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Czech American
Ingredients
Overnight dough
- 1/3 c. boiling water
- 2/3 c. All Purpose flour
Bread Dough
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 3/4 c. warm water 110-115°F
- 2 2/3 c. All Purpose flour
- 3 TB milk powder
- 1/3 c + 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c. butter, melted
Filling
- 12 slices deli American cheese (not singles)
- 6 hot dogs or sausages, cut in half
Tools
parchment paper or silpat
plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel
thermometer
mixing bowls
sheet pan
rolling pin
pastry cutter
Instructions
Overnight Dough
Mix together the flour and boiling water until it turns into a wet dough. Place the overnight dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and close it, twisting into a ball. Refrigerate overnight.
Bread Dough
Heat the water until it reaches 110-115°F (don’t chance this – test it with a food thermometer to be sure) and pour the yeast over the top. Let it sit for 5 minutes, or until it looks frothy.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, milk powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center, add the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the egg, stir, then the overnight dough and make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated. Stir in the melted butter until it forms a soft, shaggy dough. The dough should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
On a generously floured work surface, turn out the dough and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic, not sticky or wet. Place in a clean bowl covered with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour.
Roll the dough out into a 16″ x 12″ rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 equal rectangles. Fold each slice of cheese into thirds and stack on top of each piece of dough, then place the halved hot dogs on top. Roll up each kolache, pulling and tucking or pinching the edges to make sure there are no holes.
Place each of them on a sheet pan lined with parchment or a silpat silicone baking mat at least 2″ apart with the seam side down. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or loose plastic wrap and let rise for at least an hour.
*If making this the night before to bake the next morning, prepare recipe as stated including final rise, then chill loosely covered 12-18 hours. Allow time for the kolaches to come up to room temp before baking in the morning.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake 17-20 minutes, or until golden. Enjoy warm.
Notes
See post for tools I used in this recipe.
If you don’t like or have access to American cheese, use cheddar or any style you like. My favorite Texas kolaches use American and it’s why I chose to use it in this recipe.
Keywords: kolache recipe, sausage kolache, texas kolache, klobasnek, klobasniky, czech pastry, breakfast roll, sausage roll
Recipe adapted from Woman Scribbles.
Ansley K. says
Hi, if I use uncooked andouille sausages, do I need to cook the sausages to the required temp before wrapping in dough and baking? Or will raw sausages cook through with the dough? Or is it just best to use precooked sausages? Thanks!
Mrs. Sion Fogal says
This recipe comes the closest to the klobasniky my husband is missing so much from Texas–we’ve been testing a bunch of them. Our next step is to do your recipe again tomorrow but with an egg wash before the bake and butter right after they leave the oven.
But I have to know–what made you decide to do the overnight dough as a flour + boiled water combo? The results do speak for themselves, but after reading through comments, I saw that you eventually tried doing a refrigerated rise as a later step, too. My understanding from baking challah over the years was that bread dough that has egg in it will develop a more interesting flavor if at least one of the rises happens in the fridge. Sometimes I even do every single rise for my challah loaves in the fridge, the only issue being that it takes a while for the dough to get back up to size once you bring it out to room temperature each time.
But for all of those rises, the egg is already present. I wonder if, in your case, if you went all out and did long, cold rises for several steps (bringing it back out to get back to room temp before proceeding each time, though), would it have an even better flavor? I think I learned the challah fridge rise technique from Deb Perelman’s blog.
I saw Josh Weissman’s youtube video about kolaches, and his were definitely modified to suit his tastes–they looked awesome still. I think his flourishes that get the color and extra butteriness at the end combined with your more true-to-life kolache will end up being the goldilocks klobasnek my husband is craving so dearly.
★★★★★
Cassandra says
Soooo I did my first attempt today. I made the overnight dough, but it was not a wet dough. It was pretty stiff. Then today when I was trying to combine the bread dough and overnight dough, they wouldn’t mix. The overnight dough was too stiff and bonded to itself. I finally got it mostly mixed but could not get a soft shaggy dough. I kept trying to add more flour to my counter top but it would not stop being sticky. I finally just gave up.
Any suggestions on how I may have messed up?
Jane says
When you’re letting them rise with the sausage in them, are you leaving them on the counter or refrigeratorating them? I don’t want to leave sausage just sitting on the counter for an hour if it’s not food safe. Thanks!
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
They rise on the counter at room temp. Precooked sausages and hot dogs are safe for up to two hours according to the USDA. 🙂
Eugenia Tezak says
Hi there – I make an asian sweet bread that involves hot dogs and we just let them rise in room temp on counter no problem. Just additional assurance!
Debi says
Sounds wonderful. Any chance I could substitute with gluten free flour?
Will says
I absolutely love this recipe. I was inpatient on doing the final rise but they still turned out good.
★★★★★
Shannon says
This is a wonderful recipe. I made these a few weeks ago and we didn’t eat them all At once, so I froze them (a day after backing them). We defrosted them, overnight in the refrigerator, and microwaved them the next morning and they were just as delicious.
★★★★★
Tamara says
Hi there, I cannot find Milk Powder anywhere ! Is there a substitute I can use instead? Making these tomorrow!
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
Hi! While I haven’t tested this personally, I recommend replacing the 3/4 cup water used to proof the yeast with equal amounts of whole milk. Still heat the milk to 110-115F and proceed as usual, just omit the powdered milk. It may change the overall taste and texture, but it should only be slight. Please let us know how it turns out!
Leigh says
What type of sausage is typically used in the Texas kolaches? We would love to have some here in the northeast.
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
Definitely smoked sausage. Andouille, hot links and hot dogs are common, and anytime I’m able to get my hands on boudin I save some for this recipe.
Terrence says
Amazing!
★★★★★
Kerbi Smith says
Will it affect the overall rise of all preparations are made the night before baking and left in the refrigerator?
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
Hi Kerbi. I retested this recipe after receiving your comment and found that preparing the recipe as directed (including the final rise), then chilling for 12-18 hours and letting it come to room temp in the morning before baking (this took about 30-45 minutes for me) yields best results. There is no loss in rise or texture and the flavor is enhanced. In fact, I think it’s the best way to make this recipe now! Best of luck!
Marika Naito says
So if we make it all the night before, do we still do the “overnight dough” the night before that (so the recipe takes two days, for example, make overnight dough Friday, mix the rest of the dough Saturday, and bake on Sunday)? Or do we mix the flour and boiling water, set aside, mix the other ingredients, put it all together, do the rises, and then put it in the fridge (so all the steps together in one evening of mixing/rising, and then actually baking them the next morning… so in the example above we would just start the whole thing on Saturday and bake Sunday morning, rather than having to start “overnight dough” on Friday)? Not sure if that question makes sense… 😉
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
No worries – I get what you’re saying! 🙂 The overnight dough needs to chill at least 8 hours before adding to the rest of the ingredients, so yes it still needs to be made in advance. But if, for instance, you wanted to do all the prep on Saturday to bake on Sunday, you could make the overnight dough first thing in the morning Saturday, chill for 8 hours, then continue the recipe in the afternoon/evening, chill, then bake on Sunday morning.
EJ says
So curious: What is the reason for the overnight dough?
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
It makes the dough a little more flavorful and the texture more soft and chewy vs crumbly.
Jordan says
I moved from Austin about 4 years ago and have missed “kolaches” soooo much. This recipe is perfect! Thank you!
★★★★★
Gwen says
Do you have to let the overnight dough come up to room temp first?
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
Yes, that will give best results. I found that letting it sit on the counter for a few minutes while preparing the rest of the dough was enough to bring it up to temp. A good rule of thumb is that if the butter in a recipe is room temp or melted, the rest of the ingredients should be as well. Thank you for asking this very helpful question!
Big Dan T says
I’m from the Houston area, moved to Minneapolis a couple years ago, and I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed Whataburger and Shipley donuts. I’ll definitely be trying this recipe out. My roommates don’t even know what a kolache is, but they will soon learn!
Kat says
These are on their second rise and look wonderful! I doubled the dough recipe and plan to make some with bacon, breakfast sausage, peppers, cheddar, etc. I am very curious though if there are other recipes that I could use this dough for. Cinnamon rolls or fried doughnuts maybe? This is my first time trying a kneed dough and am excited to try more! Thank you for this recipe! -A Texan in Colorado
★★★★★
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
Those fillings sound amazing! My favorite kolache place in Houston used to do stuff like pulled pork, brisket and boudin too. I haven’t tried this dough anywhere else yet, but doughnuts (or beignets), cinnamon rolls and even dinner rolls all sound like solid ideas! I’m so glad you had a great time with your first dough! Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Jo says
I didn’t see where you added the flour/water mixture from the refrigerator. Did I miss it?
Sarah | AwayFromTheBox says
Hi there! It’s the overnight dough, added after the egg and before the butter in the main dough instructions.