What better way to repurpose leftover Texas style BBQ than inside Texas style kolaches? This recipe bakes the sweet dough on a Traeger grill for an extra BBQ touch and can be stuffed with any protein. In our house, we’ve used everything from smoked brisket and pork shoulder to chopped jalapeño cheddar sausages and pulled chicken.
If you can find it on a Texas kolaches bakery menu, it’s fair game! And just for clarity before we get rolling, Texas kolaches are not to be confused with authentic Czech kolaches. These more closely resemble klobasnek or klobásník.
Making the Dough for Kolaches
Just like our oven baked brisket kolaches, this dough comes your way courtesy of Serene at House of Yumm. It’s a simple combo of milk, yeast, sugar, all purpose flour, salt, eggs, and butter.
A dough hook attachment on a stand mixer makes light work of this dough, but you can totally mix it by hand if that’s all you have on, well, hand. As you’d expect, the dough will need a little time for proofing. So be sure to give yourself time to let it rise.
The dough should double in size in about an hour, at which point you’re ready to divide the dough into 12 portions and fill with your choice of protein and cheese.
Filling and Baking on a Traeger or Pellet Grill
Sure, you could bake these kolaches indoors in your oven. But sometimes it’s kinda fun to test your grill’s limits. Plus, these would be great for throwing on the grill during the holiday season or a big get together when your oven might be occupied with other dishes. It never hurts to have options!
And speaking of options, the world is your oyster when it comes to filling your kolaches. We used leftover pulled smoked beef roast and shredded colby jack in the photos below, but there’s no wrong move.
Alternative Filling Ideas:
- Texas Smoked Chuck Roast
- Leftover Brisket
- Pulled Pork
- Leftover Smoked Pork Tenderloin
- Smoked Chicken Thighs
- Leftover Smoked Ribeyes
- Mexican Pulled Chicken
You can also use sliced smoked sausage, bacon, or other breakfast meats.
The kolaches need another 45-minute rest after filling before brushing with heavy cream or an egg wash and throwing on your Traeger or pellet smoker that’s preheated to 400ºF. In my tests, 25-30 minutes baked the kolaches all the way through and developed some nice golden brown color on top.
And that’s the way the kolache crumbles. Whether you just throw these in the oven or add them to your next summer grilling menu, I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Traeger Baked Kolaches
These Texas style kolaches are one of our favorite ways to use leftover proteins like brisket, pulled pork, and chicken. Sweet dough is stuffed with chopped or pulled meat and cheese then baked on the Traeger.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2/3 cup Milk
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 package (2 1/4 tsp) Active Dry Yeast
- 2 large Eggs, beaten
- 6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 4 cups (480g) All Purpose Flour, divided
- 1-2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream, for brushing on before baking
For the Filling
- 12 oz Your Choice of Leftover Protein
- 6 oz Cheddar Cheese, cut into 12 pieces
Instructions
To Make the Dough
- Microwave the milk for about 25 seconds until it reaches 110ºF to 115ºF.
- Add to a stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl before stirring in the sugar and yeast. Rest for 10 minutes until foamy.
- Stir in the salt, beaten eggs, and melted butter.
- Add 2 cups of flour and mix with the dough hook attachment until evenly combined. Add the remaining flour and mix for another 6-8 minutes until the dough is smooth and no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl.
- Form a ball of dough and place in a large, clean bowl coated with a small amount of oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and rest for an hour in your microwave or oven until it has doubled in size.
Filling and Baking
- After an hour, punch the dough down and divide into 12 pieces weighing about 75 grams each. Place the dough pieces on a half sheet pan.
- Working one piece at a time, press the dough flat and into a circle slightly larger than your palm. Add 1 oz of chopped or pulled meat and 1/2 oz cheddar cheese in the center of the dough. (You can fit more cheese—about 6 oz total—into each kolache by finely grating it and mixing with the meat before filling instead of slicing.)
- Fold opposite sides over, pinching together, followed by the other opposite sides. Repeat with opposite corners to fully seal and place sealed side down on the sheet pan.
- Once all 12 kolaches have been filled, cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and rest for 45 additional minutes to rise once more.
- About halfway through the final proof, preheat your Traeger or pellet grill to 400ºF with the lid closed. Brush the kolaches with heavy cream or an egg wash and place on the grill. Cook for 25-30 minutes until the kolaches are golden brown on top and cooked through.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 kolacheAmount Per Serving: Calories: 355Total Fat: 15gCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 16g