Kolaches
Kolache or Klobasnek? Why the Savory One Has a Different Name
20 September 2026 · 6 min read
Here is the thing almost nobody knows about the food they are eating: a true kolache is sweet. The savoury one with sausage in it — the one you actually mean when you say kolache — is a klobasnek, and it was invented in Texas.
The two words
| Kolache | Klobasnek | |
|---|---|---|
| Filling | Sweet — fruit, poppy seed, sweet cheese | Savoury — sausage, ham, egg, cheese |
| The build | Filling sits in a well on top | Dough wrapped right around the filling |
| Where it is from | Czech lands, centuries old | Texas, made by Czech immigrants |
| Plural | Kolache | Klobasniky |
| What we sell | Not currently | Yes — and we call them kolaches |
The short rule, and it is genuinely this simple: if it has sausage in it, it is a klobasnek.
How the confusion happened
Czech families settled in Texas and brought the sweet kolache with them. At some point their descendants — not their grandparents back in Moravia — took the same dough and wrapped it around a klobasa sausage. That was a new thing, made in Texas, and it got its own name.
Then it got popular. It spread to gas stations and bakeries across the state, and as it spread the careful name did not travel with it. In Texas, people of Czech ancestry still mostly keep the distinction. Everyone else calls both of them kolaches.
By the time the food reached the rest of the country, the savoury version was the kolache as far as most people were concerned. That is the version that arrived in Utah.
So what do we call them?
Kolaches. On the board, on the menu, and when you walk in.
We are aware that our small and large kolaches are, by the strict definition, klobasniky. Every single one of them is savoury. But a menu is not a dictionary, and a person who wants sausage and cheese in warm bread at 5am should not have to learn a Czech noun to order breakfast. Being right about the word is worth less than being understood.
We are telling you here because it is a good piece of knowledge and because somebody who cares about the food deserves the real answer. Order them by whichever name you like.
What that means if you actually want the sweet one
Be specific, because "kolache" will get you sausage almost everywhere in America now. Ask for a fruit kolache or a sweet kolache and people will know what you mean.
We do not make them. We make the savoury ones, plus donuts, and we would rather point you straight than have you drive over hoping for apricot.
If what you were really after was something sweet in a soft dough, the closest thing on our board is a Persian or a cinnamon twist — different tradition entirely, same instinct.
What we do make
Savoury, fresh every morning, at all three shops from 5:00am, Monday through Saturday.
- Small — $2.50. Ham and cheese; ham, cheese and jalapeno; sausage and cheese; sausage, cheese and jalapeno.
- Large — $4.75. Bacon, egg, cheese and potato; sausage, egg, cheese and potato; sausage, egg and gravy; Ham Ranchero.
The shops: Spanish Fork (801) 416-0800 · Ogden (385) 865-1029 · St. George (435) 628-9290.
Local pages for Spanish Fork and Utah County, Ogden and St. George. Every filling is broken down in kolache fillings explained, the basics are in what is a kolache, and if you are choosing between the two halves of our board that is donuts versus kolaches.
Common questions
Is a kolache sweet or savory?
Traditionally sweet. A true Czech kolache is a soft yeast dough with a fruit, poppy seed or sweet cheese filling. The savoury meat-filled version most Americans mean when they say kolache is properly called a klobasnek.
What is a klobasnek?
A savoury pastry made by wrapping meat — traditionally klobasa sausage — in kolache dough. The plural is klobasniky. It was created by Czech immigrants who settled in Texas, not brought over from Europe, which makes it a genuinely Czech-American food rather than an imported one.
What is the difference between a kolache and a klobasnek?
The filling and the build. A kolache is sweet, with the filling sitting in a well on top of the dough. A klobasnek is savoury, with the dough wrapped fully around the meat. If it has sausage in it, it is a klobasnek.
Why does everyone call them kolaches then?
Because the word won. In Texas, families of Czech ancestry generally keep the distinction and say klobasnek; everyone else says kolache for both. Outside Texas the savoury meaning is now so dominant that most people have never heard the other word.
What do you call them at The Donut Run?
Kolaches, on the board and on the menu, because that is what people walk in and ask for. Being right about the word is less useful than being understood. Our small and large kolaches are both savoury, which makes them klobasniky by the strict definition.
Are kolaches Czech or Texan?
Both, depending which one you mean. The sweet kolache is Czech and centuries old. The savoury klobasnek is Texan, made by Czech immigrants in Texas. That is why you find them at gas stations across Texas and almost nowhere else in the United States.