I’ll admit it.  When we used to make the journey from Dallas to Austin, we would stop for kolaches, but we would always just go to the Czech stop right off the highway and get back to driving.  When we made our trek from Austin to Dallas this time, things were different.  For one I wanted to get kolaches to send to my future sister-in-law for her birthday.  She grew up in Houston before moving back to Pennsylvania and loves kolaches.  We had already stopped at the Bluebell factory and picked up some paraphernalia all wrapped up in a Bluebell container (so cute!), but I couldn’t actually send ice cream.  I had added some Lammes pralines and kolaches would round out the Texas themed birthday gift.  I could have gotten some in Austin, but if I was going by West, TX why wouldn’t I stop there?  This is the heart of Czech country in Texas.  So in a fit of insomnia, I researched the best kolaches in West.

Czech Stop savory kolache case

Czech Stop fruit kolache case

Czech Stop/Little Czech Bakery

When we got to West, we did our customary stop at Czech Stop and picked up a couple of kolaches to try and compare.  As always, they were good and I particularly liked the poppyseed flavor.  Then we drove into town to find The Village Bakery.  We parked across the street and made our way over.  Sitting on the bench outside the bakery was an old-timer in a cowboy hat.  He said, “Howdy,” as we approached.  We felt as if we had just entered the “real” Texas.  We made our way in and perused the goods.  The Village Bakery is known as “The First All-Czech Bakery in Texas” and I learned a new word, klobasniki.  This was actually a twist on the kolache created by The Village Bakery by substituting the usual sweet fillings for sausage.  This is what you now find labeled as kolaches in doughnut cases across Texas.  Brandon selected a klobasniki and I chose a prune kolache.  The traditional fillings are things like poppy seed, prune, apricot, and peach, but they have added strawberry, raspberry, cream cheese, and even chocolate over the years.  The kolaches were lightly heated before serving to enhance their texture.  The dough was a little lighter than Czech Stop and oh so good.  Kolache dough is lightly sweetened yeast dough and the perfect accompaniment to the fruit or sausage inside.  I was sold.  We placed an order for Katie’s kolaches to be picked up on our way back and bought some for our trip up to Dallas.  My friend and host in Dallas wanted a chocolate kolache, so we got one for us, too.  It is filled  with sweetened cheese, drizzled with chocolate, and delicious.  It is now one of my favorite flavors.  Also to note, I had read their Texas Twists were excellent and picked up a couple of cinnamon twists (they come in many fruit flavors) for later.  I have to agree with the posters, they were excellent.  As I write this, I’m starting to crave kolaches and twists and wishing I was back in Texas.  The good thing is that you can now order their goodies and have them shipped anywhere.  Hmm…I am in one spot for a while…

Kolaches at the Village Bakery

Sausage and Prune kolache with a bite missing

Cinnamon twist

Photos from the planned train wreck at Crush, TX

The Village Bakery
113 E Oak St
West, TX
(254) 826-5151