Kolaches are a Texan treat with Czech origins

In Saving Southern Recipes, Southern Kitchen’s Kate Williams explores the deep heritage of Southern cooking through the lens of passeddown, old family recipes.

Frito pie. Chile con carne. Breakfast tacos. Brisket. These dishes conjure up an image of Texas, big and proud and full of meat. But they’re not the only quintessential Texan delicacies. There is, in fact, a truly Texan dish that has its origins not in cowboys and giant steaks, but in Czech immigrants and, well, not meat.

I’m talking about kolaches.

These hand-held treats are a specialty of the central Texas “Czech Belt,” which spans the area between Houston, Austin and Dallas, and is centralized in the small town of West. A typical kolache (pronounced koh-la-chee) is made from a tender, enriched brioche dough, shaped into a dimpled circle and filled with a sweet filling, often made from dried fruit or cheese.

Czech immigrants brought kolaches with them when they immigrated to Central Texas hill country during the late 19th century railroad boom. Many settled in and around West, located about 70 miles south of Dallas-Fort Worth, 20 miles north of Waco and 120 miles north of Austin. Today, Czech-Americans make up the vast majority of residents in West, and kolache bakeries dominate the landscape.

If you don’t live in the Czech Belt, with a little patience and some enthusiasm for kneading, you can whip up a batch for your next brunch party or just them eat for breakfast all week.