This is something I've been wanting to experiment with for a very, very long time: Central Texas Style Kolaches (Klobasnek), specifically, the donut-shop style like what you'd get here in Shipleys in Houston.
This took a bunch of research. Copy-cat recipes are always dangerous and now with AI slop clogging up the internet, it is even doubly so. So many pages of "did the author even try to cook this thing?" You learn very quickly that if a site has blatant Amazon affiliate links, move on.
I did find a great deal of authentic central Texas style kolache recipes, but they weren't the donut shop style I wanted. Finally, I found a video in which the finished product looked very close to the Shipleys jalapeño and cheese kolaches I was craving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3kTWBpT_TY
The recipe comes together fairly easily. Bloom some yeast in sugar and evaporated milk. Combine some melted butter and an egg in a mixer bowl then add the bloomed yeast/sugar/milk solution. To that add in flour, sugar, and salt. Mix to combine and let it knead away!
Let the dough ball sit in an oiled, covered bowl for one hour. Then, knead by hand for about five minutes, put it back the bowl and let it do a second rise. Then divide the dough ball into eight equal pieces.
I wrestled with what fillings to actually use. I thought about cheddar vs american....and fresh vs pickled jalapeños. By sheer chance I happened to come across a thirteen-year-old 30 second video clip from a local TV station that showed (at the time at least) exactly how the jalapeño and cheese kolaches were made:
That sure looks like American cheese! And those are the cheap pickled jalapeños! Not sure why I was surprised that a donut shop would use the least expensive ingredients that they could get away with. If it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me!
So I set out making my kolaches:
I learned several things doing this. I should have paid more attention to rolling the dough more evenly (they use even rectangles). Also, you want the hot dog and the jalapeños to be dry; if they are wet, they make rolling and closing the seam quite difficult.
Still I managed. I let the kolaches do a final 30 minute rise, then brushed them with melted butter, and got them going in a 350 F oven for 22 minutes.
Here we are at the end. CHEESE.
I served them with a pickled jalapeño and carrot "salad" lol.
So how did I do?
Here's an (unfortunately out-of-focus) cross-section:
The bread turned out extremely close to what I remember Shipleys' tasting like: sweet and pillowy. In the video I followed, she used a bit of potato flour, which I didn't have, so I may try that next time.
The American cheese is clearly what Shipleys uses, but theirs is a bit more viscous when melted. I think I do want to give cheddar a try and see how it turns out. I also want to upgrade the jalapeños. Rather than these lengthwise slices, I think I want to dice up some rounds (and use Trappey's brand, which is my favorite as they are very crunchy).
As for the hot dog, I used HEB's (of course) Texas Heritage all-beef hot dogs. It was fine. Might try a breakfast sausage next time.
Not sure what to do about the cheese leakage issue, although I think that was simply my subpar sealing of the kolaches.
Definitely will be making this again.
(Early on in my teaching career I got stuck with the 7:30 am classes, so I would often stop by Shipleys and get a bag of these. Twenty years ago, I could down four of these on the way to the university. Urk....can't do that any more; I can barely finish one! I also ruined many a shirt by having the cheese drip on it while driving lol.)
This took a bunch of research. Copy-cat recipes are always dangerous and now with AI slop clogging up the internet, it is even doubly so. So many pages of "did the author even try to cook this thing?" You learn very quickly that if a site has blatant Amazon affiliate links, move on.
I did find a great deal of authentic central Texas style kolache recipes, but they weren't the donut shop style I wanted. Finally, I found a video in which the finished product looked very close to the Shipleys jalapeño and cheese kolaches I was craving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3kTWBpT_TY
The recipe comes together fairly easily. Bloom some yeast in sugar and evaporated milk. Combine some melted butter and an egg in a mixer bowl then add the bloomed yeast/sugar/milk solution. To that add in flour, sugar, and salt. Mix to combine and let it knead away!
Let the dough ball sit in an oiled, covered bowl for one hour. Then, knead by hand for about five minutes, put it back the bowl and let it do a second rise. Then divide the dough ball into eight equal pieces.
I wrestled with what fillings to actually use. I thought about cheddar vs american....and fresh vs pickled jalapeños. By sheer chance I happened to come across a thirteen-year-old 30 second video clip from a local TV station that showed (at the time at least) exactly how the jalapeño and cheese kolaches were made:
That sure looks like American cheese! And those are the cheap pickled jalapeños! Not sure why I was surprised that a donut shop would use the least expensive ingredients that they could get away with. If it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me!
So I set out making my kolaches:
I learned several things doing this. I should have paid more attention to rolling the dough more evenly (they use even rectangles). Also, you want the hot dog and the jalapeños to be dry; if they are wet, they make rolling and closing the seam quite difficult.
Still I managed. I let the kolaches do a final 30 minute rise, then brushed them with melted butter, and got them going in a 350 F oven for 22 minutes.
Here we are at the end. CHEESE.
I served them with a pickled jalapeño and carrot "salad" lol.
So how did I do?
Here's an (unfortunately out-of-focus) cross-section:
The bread turned out extremely close to what I remember Shipleys' tasting like: sweet and pillowy. In the video I followed, she used a bit of potato flour, which I didn't have, so I may try that next time.
The American cheese is clearly what Shipleys uses, but theirs is a bit more viscous when melted. I think I do want to give cheddar a try and see how it turns out. I also want to upgrade the jalapeños. Rather than these lengthwise slices, I think I want to dice up some rounds (and use Trappey's brand, which is my favorite as they are very crunchy).
As for the hot dog, I used HEB's (of course) Texas Heritage all-beef hot dogs. It was fine. Might try a breakfast sausage next time.
Not sure what to do about the cheese leakage issue, although I think that was simply my subpar sealing of the kolaches.
Definitely will be making this again.
(Early on in my teaching career I got stuck with the 7:30 am classes, so I would often stop by Shipleys and get a bag of these. Twenty years ago, I could down four of these on the way to the university. Urk....can't do that any more; I can barely finish one! I also ruined many a shirt by having the cheese drip on it while driving lol.)
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