Dough For Polish Pierogi
A recipe for perfectly elastic dumpling dough that is easy to roll out. This is a classic and traditional recipe without unnecessary additives. This dough always turns out well. Check how easily and quickly you can prepare simple dumpling dough. An idea for a cheap and delicious dinner.
In the video below you will find 5 ways to wrap dumplings. With a ruffle, with a fork, with an overlap, classic and in the shape of “uszka” polish small dumplings tahat are traditonally eaten at Christmas Eve with borscht aka. beetroot soup.
The dough is perfect for all types of stuffing. You can use it to prepare both sweet and savory dumplings. Ruthenian, with cheese or with berries, this dough goes well with all types of dumplings!
How to make the dumpling dough soft? Why is dumpling dough hard?
Below you will find some reasons why your dumpling dough is hard and how to prevent it:
- Too much flour – each flour is different, so following the recipe to the gram will not always bring the best results. If while kneading the dough you feel that it is too hard, add a little water to it. Remember that practice makes perfect and you will become more skilled over time.
- Adding eggs – eggs make the dough hard. They are added to pasta dough but not to traditional Polish pierogis. This type of dough is more difficult to roll out, but it is not impossible. You can use a pasta machine if you have one. In order for the dumplings to stick together properly, you will probably have to brush their edges with water or a beaten egg. Next time, prepare the dough for dumplings without eggs.
- No rest – after kneading the dough must rest. This is necessary for the dough to cool and will positively affect the strengthening of the gluten network. This will prevent the dumpling dough from shrinking.
- Kneading too short – without proper kneading, you will not obtain an elastic dough. It is not enough for the ingredients to combine. You need to stimulate the gluten responsible for the elasticity of the dough. You also cannot knead the dough for too long because it may break the gluten network.
What to do to prevent the dumplings from sticking together?
There are a few tricks to keep the dumplings from sticking together:
- Lightly sprinkle the countertop which the dumplings are placed on with flour, this will prevent the dumplings from sticking to the surface. Shake off excess flour from the dumplings before adding them to the boiling water
- Fry the cooked dumplings or brush them with oil, this will prevent the already cooked dumplings from sticking together.
- Do not stack hot dumplings on top of each other. wait until they cool down before putting the stack of dumplings in the fridge
- Use a wide pot so that the dumplings can float freely on the surface while cooking.
- Stir the water in the pot to create a vortex. Dumplings spinning in the pot will not stick together. You can also gently stir the dumplings while cooking to be sure.
Can dumpling dough be made with a mixer? How long to knead the dough for dumplings?
It is best to knead the dumpling dough in a planetary mixer. A food processor, thermomix devices or a hand mixer with yeast dough attachments are also suitable for this purpose. You can also start kneading the dough with a wooden spoon and when it is no longer so hot, finish kneading it by hand. The dough for dumplings should be well kneaded to develop the gluten network, which ensures the elasticity of the dough. Knead the pierogi dough for about 10 minutes and then let it rest.
How to cook dumplings?
Boil about ¾ of the water in a wide pot. Add salt to the boiling water and add the dumplings one at a time. You can gently stir the water to prevent the dumplings from sticking together and to the bottom of the pot.
Cook fresh dumplings for about 3 minutes, counting from the moment the dumplings float to the surface of the water. If you cook frozen dumplings, do not defrost them in advance. Put the frozen dumplings into hot water and cook for about 10 minutes after they float.
Remember to thoroughly shake off excess flour from the dumplings before cooking, because the brewed flour on the surface of the dough will turn into a white, unsightly coating with the consistency of jelly.
Does dumpling dough need to rest?
Cover the kneaded dough with a cloth or wrap it in foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes. This will make the dough more elastic and easier to roll out. Uncovered dough may dry out and a dark “crust” will form on its surface, which may make rolling and gluing the dumplings difficult, but will not be visible after cooking. If the dough dries out a little despite being covered, it won’t be a tragedy 😉.
How to freeze dumplings?
You can freeze dumplings raw or cooked. It is best to place raw dumplings in several ziplock bags immediately after making them. So that the dumplings do not touch each other. Once the dumplings are pre-frozen, you can throw them into one bag or leave them divided into several bags. If you want to freeze cooked dumplings, wait until they cool down thoroughly. Brush the cold dumplings with oil, put them in bags or plastic containers and put them in the freezer. Thanks to grease, the dumplings do not stick together.
Why don’t dumplings stick together?
If your dumplings open and their edges do not stick together, there is probably too much flour in or on the dough. To make the dumplings stick together easily, just brush the edge of the dough with water (with your finger or a brush), then the dumplings will stick together without any problems.
What flour is dumpling dough made of?
You can prepare classic dumpling dough from any all purpose wheat flour type 405-550.
If you want, you can experiment with different types of flour, e.g. gluten-free, buckwheat, spelled. Remember that each flour absorbs water differently, so you may need to change the proportion of flour to water. It is important that the dough is flexible and soft enough to roll out well.
Which dumpling dough is better with or without eggs? How much oil for dumpling dough?
Adding egg to dumpling dough makes it hard. Oil, however, makes the dough mushy and instead of being firm, the dough tastes like they were overcooked. Although some people add oil to make the dough soft, it is easy to overdo it. A well-kneaded dough is soft and elastic without any additives.
How to make thin dough for dumplings?
This recipe makes the perfect dough for both thin and thick dumplings. It all depends on how much you roll out the dough. The thinner you like the dumpling dough, the thinner you need to roll it out. This dough is very elastic, so you can easily achieve a very thin dough for dumplings.
How much flour for 40 dumplings? How many dumplings with 0.5 kg of flour? how many dumplings with 1 kg of flour?
If you are wondering how much flour you need to prepare a certain number of dumplings, I have an approximate conversion rate for you. The recipe below (i.e. 0.5 kg of flour and 350 ml of water) gave me about 100 dumplings. Thus:
1kg of flour – 200 dumplings
0.5 kg of flour – 100 dumplings
0.25 kg of flour – 50 dumplings
0.125 kg of flour – 25 dumplings
Remember that if you want to prepare a recipe from half, double or triple portion, you can click the automatic converter located just above the list of ingredients on the right. It will count the amount of ingredients for you.
Dumpling dough is perfect for people on a vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian and pescatarian diet. Dumpling dough contains gluten.
The proportions given below will yield 850 g of dough, which will make approximately 100 dumplings with a diameter of 7 cm. Read the step-by-step recipe on how to prepare dumpling dough and watch the video below the recipe.
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Dough for Polish Pierogi
Dough for Polish Pierogi Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g flour
- 350 ml water (hot)
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
Preparing the dough for dumplings
- Sift the flour into the mixer bowl. Add salt and hot water. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Form a ball of dough and cover it with a cloth or cling film to prevent the dough from drying out. The dough should rest for 10-15 minutes.500 g flour, 350 ml water, 2 tsp salt
- You can sprinkle the countertop with a small amount of flour. Place the dough on the counter and roll out. Then cut out circles from the dough, e.g. using a glass or cookie cutters. Place the filling in the center of each circle and make the dumplings using any method presented in the video below. If the edges of the dumpling do not want to stick together, you can brush them with water, which will glue the dough together.
Cooking the dumplings
- Cook the dumplings in boiling salted water for 3 minutes (counting from the moment they float). It's best to cook the dumplings right away because after some time the dough will get sticky and will stick to the countertop. Cooked or raw dumplings can be frozen.
Freezing the dumplings
- Freezing raw dumplingsPlace the raw dumplings in a freezer bag or plastic container. Arrange the dumplings so that they do not touch each other. It is best to freeze dumplings in batches. When the dumplings are pre-frozen (they will be hard), you can put all the dumplings into one bag.Freezing cooked dumplingsPlace the cooked dumplings on a plate or wooden board. When the dumplings cool down, brush them with oil and place them in a bag or plastic container. Place the prepared dumplings in the freezer. The dumplings must be completely cooled and greased with oil to prevent them from sticking together.
Video
Nutrition
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
