Cook This: 3 Polish Baking Recipes from Dobre Dobre
Laurel Kratochvila, an American-born, France-trained, Berlin-based baker and cookbook author, shares her passion for Polish baking in her second cookbook, Dobre Dobre: Baking from Poland and Beyond. The title, meaning 'good, good' in Polish, reflects her philosophy of creating baked goods that are 'not too sweet.'
Kratochvila's journey began with a quest for pickles that led her from the Czech Republic to Poland, but it was her first bite of chałka, a braided egg bread, that sparked a deep connection to her Jewish heritage and Polish baking traditions. Since 2009, she has immersed herself in Polish baking culture, researching for nearly 17 years. Her book highlights the collaborative nature of baking and includes stories from bakers across Poland and the diaspora.
Here are three recipes from Dobre Dobre that showcase the richness of Polish baking.
Twisted Kraków Bagels
These bagels, known as obwarzanki krakowskie, are a classic street food from Kraków. They are twisted, boiled, and baked to a golden brown, with a chewy texture and a sprinkle of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or salt.
Ingredients: All-purpose flour, water, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coarse salt.
Instructions: Combine flour, water, yeast, sugar, and salt to form a dough. Knead until smooth, let rise, then shape into rings. Boil in water with honey, then bake until golden. Top with seeds or salt before baking.
Loaded Potato Knishes
These savory pastries are filled with a creamy mashed potato mixture, caramelized onions, and optional cheese or mushrooms. They are baked until flaky and golden.
Ingredients: Dough: flour, butter, sour cream, salt. Filling: potatoes, onions, butter, salt, pepper, optional cheese or mushrooms.
Instructions: Make dough by mixing flour, butter, sour cream, and salt. Chill. Boil and mash potatoes, sauté onions, combine. Roll dough, fill, shape into squares, bake at 375°F until golden.
Sour Cherry and Salty Sheep's Cheese Danishes
These danishes combine tangy sour cherries with salty sheep's milk cheese (like oscypek) in a buttery, flaky pastry. The contrast of flavors is a hallmark of Polish baking.
Ingredients: Puff pastry, sour cherry jam or fresh cherries, sheep's milk cheese, sugar, egg wash.
Instructions: Cut puff pastry into squares, fill with cheese and cherry mixture, fold edges, brush with egg wash, bake at 400°F until puffed and golden. Sprinkle with sugar.
Kratochvila emphasizes that Polish baking is deeply rooted in community and heritage. Her book includes both traditional recipes and modern interpretations, celebrating the diversity of Polish and Jewish baking cultures.
