The Best Kolache In Abilene {The Ultimate Taste Test}

We tried 6 kolaches from 6 donut places for the ultimate kolache taste test to find the best kolache in Abilene. Check out our results.

What Is A Kolache Anyway?

Okay, so let’s clarify this right off the bat.

What everyone calls a “kolache” in Texas really isn’t a kolache at all.

A kolache is a traditional Czech pastry made with sweet yeast dough filled with fruit.

What we Texans call a kolache is technically a “klobasniky,” a roll of sweet, spun dough wrapped around a sausage (kind of like a pig in a blanket…but better!).

So, just know that, when you’re in Texas, when you order a kolache, you’ll get a dough-wrapped sausage, but anywhere else, you’ll probably be served the traditional fruit-filled Czech pastry.

I’ll be calling them “kolaches” in this post because that’s what everyone here in Abilene calls them (except a couple of these donut places list them as a “small pig”).

Now, down to business.

The Ultimate Abilene Kolache Taste Test

I knew we’d never be able to choose the best kolache in Abilene if we tasted them separately, so, one Saturday morning, my husband and I split up to gather 6 kolaches from 6 different donut places to taste them all at once.

After doing some Google research & polling on our Abilene Eats Instagram stories, we decided to go to:

We tried to include BK Donuts too, but they were closed (despite Google saying they should have been open – I don’t know what the story is there!).

We were also trying to make it a level playing field by ordering a plain kolache from each place, but two of the shops (Shipley Donuts and Mustang Donuts) only offered a cheese option.

Each kolache was around $1, which makes them an affordable and delicious part of your breakfast.

The Great Abilene Kolache Off

When we got all 6 kolaches back to the house, we laid them all out on the table with notecards labeling which place they were from.

We warmed each kolache up just before we tasted them.

Our Rating System

We decided to help us choose a winner, we ranked each kolache from 1 (not our favorite) to 5 (YUM) in 3 areas:

overall taste
overall texture
bread to sausage ratio

So, how did they rate?

First, I want to make sure you know that all of these were delicious. We would have been happy with any one of these kolaches, but if you want the best of the best, here’s what we found.

AM Donuts & Croissants

We love AM Donuts and have gone there often for Saturday morning donuts, but their kolache had the most dense dough out of all of them, which is why they were dinged a little on their texture score.

Overall Taste – 4

Overall Texture – 3.5

Bread to Sausage Ratio – 4

Donut Time

This was a solidly delicious kolache! Their bread was very fluffy and it was so tasty.

Overall Taste – 4

Overall Texture – 4

Bread to Sausage Ratio – 4

Shipley Do-Nuts

This kolache came in 2nd place for us, which actually surprised us! When you look at all of the kolaches together, this one stood out as the bread was the darkest and wasn’t glossy like the rest.

But, we were shocked when we took the first bite! The bread didn’t taste dry or overdone at all like we were anticipating. It was light, fluffy, and perfect.

We were really trying hard not to let the cheese sway us, but, goodness, that melty cheesy goodness was so delicious. And they also got bonus points because their sausage was the largest.

Overall Taste – 5

Overall Texture – 4.5

Bread to Sausage Ratio – 5

Jack ‘N’ Jill Donuts

This was our least favorite kolache, not because the flavor was bad, but simply because the bread to sausage ratio was off to us.

The bread was fluffy and delicious but there was simply too much of it. The sausage was just lost in there.

Overall Taste – 4

Overall Texture – 4

Bread to Sausage Ratio – 2

Abilene Donuts

The bread on this kolache tasted just a touch sweeter than the others, which we loved, but again there was just a little bit too much bread.

Overall Taste – 4

Overall Texture – 4

Bread to Sausage Ratio – 3

Mustang Donuts

This, my friends, was the perfect kolache. The perfect amount of sweet, fluffy bread wrapped around a juicy sausage. Every bite was perfect.

Overall Taste – 5

Overall Texture – 5

Bread to Sausage Ratio – 5