The Best Jalapeño Homemade Sausage Kolache Recipe

The Best Jalapeno Sausage Kolache

Incredibly soft and everything you could want in a sausage klobasnek

prep time:

cook time:

A person holds a baked bread roll filled with melted cheese and pieces of sausage over a metal baking tray. - Hungry Mockingbird

Something that rocked my world when I first left Texas.

Nobody else knows what a kolache is.

When my family moved out of state and casually mentioned grabbing kolaches with some donuts for breakfast and people looked at me like I’d made up a word. I was genuinely shocked. I thought kolaches were just… a thing. Like donuts. Like bagels. Nope. Kolaches are a Texas thing. Not to mention the sausage and cheese ones I grew up eating? Those aren’t even technically kolaches.

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From the Kitchen

Those are actually called klobasnéky (singular: klobasnek), from the Czech word klobása, meaning sausage. And here’s the wildest part — they didn’t even come from the Czech Republic. They were invented in Texas. The story goes that in 1953, Wendel Montgomery at The Village Bakery in West, Texas saw someone eating a hot dog and thought, “what if I wrapped that in kolache dough?” And thus, Texas’s greatest contribution to Czech-American cuisine was born.

So technically, every time we Texans order “sausage kolaches,” we’re saying something that doesn’t exist. A kolache is almost always sweet. The meaty ones are klobasnéky. But as the saying goes in Texas — if it’s wrapped in that dough, we’re calling it a kolache.

Why This Works:

Tangzhong enriched dough wrapped around smoky sausage, sharp cheddar, and fresh jalapeño

A person holds a baked bread roll filled with melted cheese and pieces of sausage over a metal baking tray. - Hungry Mockingbird

Cheddar Jalapeño Kolaches Recipe

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Ingredients

3 tbsp 27g all purpose flour
½ cup 120g whole milk
¼ cup 36g water
3¼ cups 455g all purpose flour; add more 1 tbsp at a time if dough is too wet but keep in mind dough is meant to be slightly sticky
2 tbsp 27g granulated sugar
2¼ tsp 7g instant yeast, or 1 packet
1 tsp 4g fine kosher salt
1 large egg room temp
¾ cup 183g warm whole milk
4 tbsp 57g unsalted butter, softened

All of the tangzhong, cooled (instructions below)

10 Eckrich Smok-Y breakfast sausages
5 slices sharp cheddar cheese halved
3 tbsp unsalted butter melted
2 cloves garlic finely grated or minced (for the dough)
2 tbsp finely chopped chives for the dough
1 jalapeño small diced (for the dough)
1 jalapeño thinly sliced (for topping)

Instructions

Step 1

Tangzhong: Whisk the flour, milk, and water together in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Keep whisking until it thickens into a paste and the whisk lines hold; about 2 to 3 minutes. Cool to room temp.

Step 2

Dough: In a stand mixer with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the egg, warm milk, cooled tangzhong, and softened butter. Mix on low until it comes together, then increase to medium and knead 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should be soft and tacky, but workable. If it's still super super sticky and making a mess after 10 minutes, add flour a tablespoon at a time. In the last minute, add the garlic, diced jalapeño, and chives and let the mixer work them in.

Step 3

First rise: Shape into a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise about 1 hour until doubled.

Step 4

Shape: Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces. Flatten each into an oval, place a sausage and half a slice of cheddar in the center, wrap the dough around the filling and pinch the seam tight. Place seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet; about 2 inches apart.

Step 5

Second rise: Cover loosely and let rise 25 to 30 minutes until puffy.

Step 6

Bake: Preheat to 350°F. Melt the butter. Brush the tops generously with garlic butter and top with sliced jalapeño. Bake 20 to 22 minutes until golden.