Texas Style Kolache Recipe (Klobasnek)
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.
- Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
Overnight dough
- 1/3 cup boiling water
- 2/3 cups All Purpose flour
Bread Dough
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup warm water 110-115°F
- 2 2/3 cups All Purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp milk powder
- 1/3 cup + 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Filling
- 12 slices deli American cheese (not singles)
- 6 hot dogs or sausages, cut in half
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 1 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
Tools
- parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel
- thermometer
- mixing bowls
- sheet pan
- rolling pin
- pastry cutter
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.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Czech American
Recipe adapted from Woman Scribbles.
I absolutely love this recipe. I was inpatient on doing the final rise but they still turned out good.
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.
Hi there, I cannot find Milk Powder anywhere ! Is there a substitute I can use instead? Making these tomorrow!
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!
I substituted ¾ cup of whole milk (as per below) when I ran out of milk powder. There was no difference in taste or texture that I noticed.
What type of sausage is typically used in the Texas kolaches? We would love to have some here in the northeast.
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.
Amazing!
Will it affect the overall rise of all preparations are made the night before baking and left in the refrigerator?
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!
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… 😉
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.