Pierogies

[Catscankim]

Does anybody have a good pierogie dough recipe? My grandmother used to make hundreds of them at a time, and then all of our families would have pierogies for the year lol. I always told her that she needed to be not so stingy and give us the recipe lol. Well, she took that recipe to her grave a bunch of years ago.

I found a few “authentic recipes” online, but the dough just wouldnt work for me. They would just fall apart at the edges. Maybe its just my technique...quite possible lol.

 

[Rsapienza]

I don't personally have a recipe, but I have seen many on pinterest. Not sure if they're any good. I absolutely love pierogies. Back home, during lent, most of the Catholic churches made and sold them (yummmm...). My mouth is literally watering.

 

[GemstonePony]

No recipe from me I think, but I do remember sealing the edges with fingertips dipped in cold water. And I think I tried using a bit of paper towel as a brush, but that was a bad idea because I had to use my fingers to feel the slip to know if the dough would stick correctly anyways.
I haven't made them in forever, and although my paternal grandparents were from Poland, I'm 75% sure I used a recipe from the internet. I can check with my Mom on that this weekend, though.

 

[Catscankim]

I pinched them together with a fork, like pie crust. Maybe it's the finger squishing technique I need to try lol. As soon as I put them in the water they fell apart and I ended up with potatoey water and floating dough. Freezing them first helped, but not 100%. The filling was incredibly good, but not my grandmoms. But that's ok, I can adapt.

There is a Polish market here that sells really good pierogie, but they are a little expensive. I can probably make 100 of them for two orders from the market. You get 6 little pierogie for like $12 LOL. I can easily shovel in 12 of them.

 

[GemstonePony]

I pinched them together with a fork, like pie crust. Maybe it's the finger squishing technique I need to try lol. As soon as I put them in the water they fell apart and I ended up with potatoey water and floating dough. Freezing them first helped, but not 100%. The filling was incredibly good, but not my grandmoms. But that's ok, I can adapt.

There is a Polish market here that sells really good pierogie, but they are a little expensive. I can probably make 100 of them for two orders from the market. You get 6 little pierogie for like $12 LOL. I can easily shovel in 12 of them.

A fork feels risky to me, but if you're super confident in your water application it would create a pretty edge. I used crimping as a last chance to find any place where the dough wasn't sticking well.
Hmm, now I'm hungry for Pierogi.

 

[Catscankim]

A fork feels risky to me, but if you're super confident in your water application it would create a pretty edge. I used crimping as a last chance to find any place where the dough wasn't sticking well.
Hmm, now I'm hungry for Pierogi.

Me too LOL. And oddly enough, I can't find any at the grocery store. Not even my standby Mrs. Ts

 

[LilyJo]

At the risk if showing my ignorance, what is a pierogy? We don't have them in the UK..

 

[IrishLass]

We make pierogi's every year for Christmas Eve as a family over at my sis's house. My great grandmother on my mom's side emigrated to the US from Poland, and it's her recipes (with a few tweaks here and there of our own) that we use. This is her dough recipe as passed down to us (although my sis now uses a tweaked version with sour cream instead of milk to make the dough more easily to work with):

3 whole eggs
3 cups lukewarm whole milk
5 lbs flour (we use AP, but I'm hoping to try a type 450 Polish flour this year that I found at a store nearby)
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the eggs, milk and salt in a bowl. Pour the flour out onto a mixing board and make a well in the center. Add the liquid ingredients a little at a time to the flour and mix in with your hands until it makes a dough. Knead 10 to 15 minutes tops, adding more flour or liquid if needed to make a smooth, satiny dough that's just to the point that it no longer sticks to the hands (don't go overboard with extra flour or you'll make it too dry).

Place in a bowl covered with a damp cloth to keep it soft and from drying out (or place it in a Ziploc bag). Let rest for 1 hour on the counter (or overnight in the fridge if you're making it a day ahead) before rolling out.

To roll out, pull smaller portions off the main hunk of dough at a time (leaving the rest covered until needed) and roll out to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface, making sure to not get any flour on the side of the dough you will be placing the filling on.

Cut into circles. We use a drinking glass as our dough cutter....it's about 2.5 to 3" in diameter, I think.

Once cut, we take a circle, stretch it out ever so slightly a little with our hands to bring them to a thickness that's just a little less than 1/8" and then dollop about a tablespoon or so of filling into the center of the circle. Be careful not to over-fill or they could break in the boiling water (this might take a little bit of trial and error before the amount becomes instinctive).

Next, we dip a finger into a bowl of water we handily have standing nearby, and with it we slightly dampen only one half of the circle. Be careful to not go overboard with the water......you want it just damp, not soaking wet (that's why we dampen only 1/2 of the circle), or else the dough will have a hard time sealing properly and it will come apart when boiling.

Once 1/2 of the circle is dampened, we fold the dough in half over the filling to bring the edges together, and then we pinch them sealed with our fingers, although a few of the younger members of our family feel better using a fork. If dampened properly, it will pinch together/seal wonderfully. When doing this, though, it is very important to keep any part of the filling from creeping/spreading out onto the edges that will be pinched closed, or else they won't seal properly and are guaranteed to break open when boiling. Before we place them in the pot of boiling water, a seasoned, designated member of our familial 'crew' inspects the seals on each pierogi to make sure they are pinched closed well and good, because we normally have a few first-timers on the assembly line that aren't up to snuff yet. lol .

Then we place them in a large pot of boiling water, and once they float up to the top, we continue boiling them for 2 to 3 extra minutes before taking them out and placing them in a holding pan and basting with melted butter.


IrishLass

 

[IrishLass]

At the risk if showing my ignorance, what is a pierogy? We don't have them in the UK..

They are pretty much the Polish version of dumplings. Basically rolled-out dough wrapped around a meat or potato or a cabbage filling then boiled before being fried in butter and onions (at least that's how we do it).


IrishLass

 

[Catscankim]

We make pierogi's every year for Christmas Eve as a family over at my sis's house. My great grandmother on my mom's side emigrated to the US from Poland, and it's her recipes (with a few tweaks here and there of our own) that we use. This is her dough recipe as passed down to us (although my sis now uses a tweaked version with sour cream instead of milk to make the dough more easily to work with):

3 whole eggs
3 cups lukewarm whole milk
5 lbs flour (we use AP, but I'm hoping to try a type 450 Polish flour this year that I found at a store nearby)
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the eggs, milk and salt in a bowl. Pour the flour out onto a mixing board and make a well in the center. Add the liquid ingredients a little at a time to the flour and mix in with your hands until it makes a dough. Knead 10 to 15 minutes tops, adding more flour or liquid if needed to make a smooth, satiny dough that's just to the point that it no longer sticks to the hands (don't go overboard with extra flour or you'll make it too dry).

Place in a bowl covered with a damp cloth to keep it soft and from drying out (or place it in a Ziploc bag). Let rest for 1 hour on the counter (or overnight in the fridge if you're making it a day ahead) before rolling out.

To roll out, pull smaller portions off the main hunk of dough at a time (leaving the rest covered until needed) and roll out to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface, making sure to not get any flour on the side of the dough you will be placing the filling on.

Cut into circles. We use a drinking glass as our dough cutter....it's about 2.5 to 3" in diameter, I think.

Once cut, we take a circle, stretch it out ever so slightly a little with our hands to bring them to a thickness that's just a little less than 1/8" and then dollop about a tablespoon or so of filling into the center of the circle. Be careful not to over-fill or they could break in the boiling water (this might take a little bit of trial and error before the amount becomes instinctive).

Next, we dip a finger into a bowl of water we handily have standing nearby, and with it we slightly dampen only one half of the circle. Be careful to not go overboard with the water......you want it just damp, not soaking wet (that's why we dampen only 1/2 of the circle), or else the dough will have a hard time sealing properly and it will come apart when boiling.

Once 1/2 of the circle is dampened, we fold the dough in half over the filling to bring the edges together, and then we pinch them sealed with our fingers, although a few of the younger members of our family feel better using a fork. If dampened properly, it will pinch together/seal wonderfully. When doing this, though, it is very important to keep any part of the filling from creeping/spreading out onto the edges that will be pinched closed, or else they won't seal properly and are guaranteed to break open when boiling. Before we place them in the pot of boiling water, a seasoned, designated member of our familial 'crew' inspects the seals on each pierogi to make sure they are pinched closed well and good, because we normally have a few first-timers on the assembly line that aren't up to snuff yet. lol .

Then we place them in a large pot of boiling water, and once they float up to the top, we continue boiling them for 2 to 3 extra minutes before taking them out and placing them in a holding pan and basting with melted butter.


IrishLass

Wow!! Thank you for sharing all of that!

Saving this recipe and tips.

 

[DKing]

I will post a couple pages from a Doukhobor cookbook.

Now I have not made any of these recipes myself so I can't tell if they are as good as the ones I had growing up (My aunt was the most amazing cook!) I assume they would be good and traditional recipes as they come from the Russian community. Unfortunately, the matrons in my family are all passed on now so all recipes are lost.

 

[Catscankim]

Oh my lord i am glad i started this thread. Im getting more than i bargained for lol. Thank you @DKing

 

[DKing]

when you press your edges together, to wet them slightly with water so that the dough binds together. I am trying to remember what we did when I helped make them, but that was so long ago. I think that was what we did. Damn memory....getting old is no fun!

want the page with borsch? lol The Doukhobor version is the more orange kind, not the red beet version.

 

[SPowers]

We make pierogi's every year for Christmas Eve as a family over at my sis's house. My great grandmother on my mom's side emigrated to the US from Poland, and it's her recipes (with a few tweaks here and there of our own) that we use. This is her dough recipe as passed down to us (although my sis now uses a tweaked version with sour cream instead of milk to make the dough more easily to work with):

3 whole eggs
3 cups lukewarm whole milk
5 lbs flour (we use AP, but I'm hoping to try a type 450 Polish flour this year that I found at a store nearby)
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the eggs, milk and salt in a bowl. Pour the flour out onto a mixing board and make a well in the center. Add the liquid ingredients a little at a time to the flour and mix in with your hands until it makes a dough. Knead 10 to 15 minutes tops, adding more flour or liquid if needed to make a smooth, satiny dough that's just to the point that it no longer sticks to the hands (don't go overboard with extra flour or you'll make it too dry).

Place in a bowl covered with a damp cloth to keep it soft and from drying out (or place it in a Ziploc bag). Let rest for 1 hour on the counter (or overnight in the fridge if you're making it a day ahead) before rolling out.

To roll out, pull smaller portions off the main hunk of dough at a time (leaving the rest covered until needed) and roll out to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface, making sure to not get any flour on the side of the dough you will be placing the filling on.

Cut into circles. We use a drinking glass as our dough cutter....it's about 2.5 to 3" in diameter, I think.

Once cut, we take a circle, stretch it out ever so slightly a little with our hands to bring them to a thickness that's just a little less than 1/8" and then dollop about a tablespoon or so of filling into the center of the circle. Be careful not to over-fill or they could break in the boiling water (this might take a little bit of trial and error before the amount becomes instinctive).

Next, we dip a finger into a bowl of water we handily have standing nearby, and with it we slightly dampen only one half of the circle. Be careful to not go overboard with the water......you want it just damp, not soaking wet (that's why we dampen only 1/2 of the circle), or else the dough will have a hard time sealing properly and it will come apart when boiling.

Once 1/2 of the circle is dampened, we fold the dough in half over the filling to bring the edges together, and then we pinch them sealed with our fingers, although a few of the younger members of our family feel better using a fork. If dampened properly, it will pinch together/seal wonderfully. When doing this, though, it is very important to keep any part of the filling from creeping/spreading out onto the edges that will be pinched closed, or else they won't seal properly and are guaranteed to break open when boiling. Before we place them in the pot of boiling water, a seasoned, designated member of our familial 'crew' inspects the seals on each pierogi to make sure they are pinched closed well and good, because we normally have a few first-timers on the assembly line that aren't up to snuff yet. lol .

Then we place them in a large pot of boiling water, and once they float up to the top, we continue boiling them for 2 to 3 extra minutes before taking them out and placing them in a holding pan and basting with melted butter.


IrishLass

So generous of you to share this information! My husband is 2nd generation Ukranian Canadian and his family (the women) used to get together at holiday times to makes 100's of perogies - some of the cousins (again the women) carried the recipe down but no girls in my husband's family. I never learned how to make them... but I was pretty good at eating them!

 

[Gaisy59]

My 84 yr old mom has made this recipe forever and my son won’t eat anybody else’s and to be honest I don’t either. Yes we are ukrainian so she is an old country baba

Sorry Filling part came up twice but I didn’t know how to delete one.

 

[Rsapienza]

We make pierogi's every year for Christmas Eve as a family over at my sis's house. My great grandmother on my mom's side emigrated to the US from Poland, and it's her recipes (with a few tweaks here and there of our own) that we use. This is her dough recipe as passed down to us (although my sis now uses a tweaked version with sour cream instead of milk to make the dough more easily to work with):

3 whole eggs
3 cups lukewarm whole milk
5 lbs flour (we use AP, but I'm hoping to try a type 450 Polish flour this year that I found at a store nearby)
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the eggs, milk and salt in a bowl. Pour the flour out onto a mixing board and make a well in the center. Add the liquid ingredients a little at a time to the flour and mix in with your hands until it makes a dough. Knead 10 to 15 minutes tops, adding more flour or liquid if needed to make a smooth, satiny dough that's just to the point that it no longer sticks to the hands (don't go overboard with extra flour or you'll make it too dry).

Place in a bowl covered with a damp cloth to keep it soft and from drying out (or place it in a Ziploc bag). Let rest for 1 hour on the counter (or overnight in the fridge if you're making it a day ahead) before rolling out.

To roll out, pull smaller portions off the main hunk of dough at a time (leaving the rest covered until needed) and roll out to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface, making sure to not get any flour on the side of the dough you will be placing the filling on.

Cut into circles. We use a drinking glass as our dough cutter....it's about 2.5 to 3" in diameter, I think.

Once cut, we take a circle, stretch it out ever so slightly a little with our hands to bring them to a thickness that's just a little less than 1/8" and then dollop about a tablespoon or so of filling into the center of the circle. Be careful not to over-fill or they could break in the boiling water (this might take a little bit of trial and error before the amount becomes instinctive).

Next, we dip a finger into a bowl of water we handily have standing nearby, and with it we slightly dampen only one half of the circle. Be careful to not go overboard with the water......you want it just damp, not soaking wet (that's why we dampen only 1/2 of the circle), or else the dough will have a hard time sealing properly and it will come apart when boiling.

Once 1/2 of the circle is dampened, we fold the dough in half over the filling to bring the edges together, and then we pinch them sealed with our fingers, although a few of the younger members of our family feel better using a fork. If dampened properly, it will pinch together/seal wonderfully. When doing this, though, it is very important to keep any part of the filling from creeping/spreading out onto the edges that will be pinched closed, or else they won't seal properly and are guaranteed to break open when boiling. Before we place them in the pot of boiling water, a seasoned, designated member of our familial 'crew' inspects the seals on each pierogi to make sure they are pinched closed well and good, because we normally have a few first-timers on the assembly line that aren't up to snuff yet. lol .

Then we place them in a large pot of boiling water, and once they float up to the top, we continue boiling them for 2 to 3 extra minutes before taking them out and placing them in a holding pan and basting with melted butter.


IrishLass

Thank you for sharing. My mom and kids will be blown away if I surprise them with these!!

 

[Rsapienza]

OMG...thank you to all of you. Y'all just made my year!!