By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026
Small, round and golden, pogácsa are the savoury pastries Hungarians set out with a glass of wine, and visitors often liken them to small savoury scones. These are rich with butter, made soft with milk kefir and crowned with a crisp tuft of Gouda.
An old name for a party pastry
The word pogácsa first appears in Hungarian around 1395, when it meant a flatbread baked in ash or embers. It goes back to a Latin word for hearth-baked bread and reached Hungary through the South Slavic pogača. The small, cut rounds became common in late-medieval Hungary, and the oldest were made with fat and pork cracklings.
Crackling pogácsa still follow a bowl of goulash or bean soup and are baked for weddings, christenings, Christmas and Easter. The cheese and potato versions popular today are newer arrivals. Visitors meet a plate of them at winery tastings, in bars and wherever friends gather, and they go well with a glass of Tokaji.
Butter for crumble, kefir for softness
Hungarian bakers rub soft fat into the flour, and that fat is what makes pogácsa crumbly and keeps it fresh. Kefir is thick enough to hold a dough's shape and bakes up light, with no harsh acidity. Soured milk also weakens gluten, so the pastry stays tender instead of chewy. The lift comes from baking powder, which carries its own acid, so the kefir is there for texture rather than rise.
Hungarian kitchens make many kinds of pogácsa dough. Some are raised with yeast and folded three or four times for flaky layers, some rest overnight, and others go straight into the oven.
A cheese crown that holds its shape
The topping needs a semi-hard cheese that melts but does not run, such as Gouda, Emmental or Hungary's own trappista. Pinch the grated cheese lightly but firmly into a small tuft before setting it on each round, so it bakes into a crisp cap. The pogácsa are done when that cap is crisp and the inside is crumbly. For a change, scatter sesame or caraway seeds over the tops in place of cheese.
Hungarian cheese scones with milk kefir
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 g all-purpose flour Extra flour for dusting the work surface.
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 250 g unsalted butter Soften before using.
- 175 g plain milk kefir Use unsweetened kefir.
- 1 egg
- 100 g Gouda cheese Grate before using.
For the topping
- 1 egg Beat for brushing the tops.
- 100 g Gouda cheese Grate before using.
You will need
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Rolling pin
- Small round cutter
- Cheese grater
- Pastry brush
- Baking tray and baking paper
- Oven
Instructions
Make and bake the scones
- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
- Rub the softened butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until crumbly.
- Mix in the kefir, the egg for the dough and 100 g grated cheese to form a soft dough that holds together and can be rolled out.
- Wrap the dough and rest it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) with top and bottom heat.
- Roll the dough about 1 cm thick on a lightly floured surface and use a small round cutter to cut out the scones.
- Gather the scraps, roll them out again to 1 cm and cut more rounds.
- Place the rounds on a baking-paper-lined tray with a little space between them.
- Brush the tops with the beaten egg.
- Pinch a little of the remaining 100 g grated cheese into a small tuft and press it lightly onto each round.
- Bake one tray at a time for about 20 minutes, until golden with a crisp cheese topping.
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