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+ servings
pierogi dough
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4.97 from 162 votes

The best pierogi dough recipe + how to make perfect pierogi

czas przygotowania1 godz
czas gotowania20 min
resting time30 min
całkowity czas1 godz 20 min
porcje: 100 pierogi
autor: Aleksandra

składniki

  • 4 cups flour 500g / 17.5-oz, spoon and leveled, all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup + 2.5 Tbsp water 280g / 280ml / 10-oz (to weight on a scale)
  • 3 tablespoons butter 1.4 oz/40g, or vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt

wykonanie

→ Make the dough:

  • Add the flour and salt into a large bowl, mix together.
  • In a small saucepan, warm the water with butter until they are very hot, but not boiling (temperature should be around 80-85 °C / 176-185 °F, that is when the water starts to move and steam).
  • Pour hot water with butter into the bowl with flour, mix with a wooden spoon until roughly combined.
  • Knead the dough using your hands or with a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, for about 5 minutes. A food processor can also be used (fitted with the dough blade). The dough should be smooth, soft, and elastic, it shouldn’t stick to your hands. When you follow the recipe (especially if you weigh the ingredients, instead of using measuring cups), the dough should be perfect, but if for some reason it’s not, add some water if it’s too dry, or a little bit of flour if it’s too wet. If the dough already forms a ball, is relatively smooth, but still tough, it means that it’s not ready, it must be further kneaded until soft and elastic (after resting time it will be even softer).
  • Wrap the kneaded dough in plastic foil (so it doesn’t dry out), leave to rest for about 30 minutes (it will be easy to roll out).

→ Rolling out, stuffing and shaping the pierogi:

  • Divide the dough into 4 parts.
  • Onto a lightly floured surface, roll out thinly the first piece of the dough, to a thickness of approx. 2 mm / 1/16 inch. If the dough is hard to roll out, set it aside for about 5-10 minutes to rest.
  • Use a cup or a pierogi/pastry cutter to cut out rounds. Place one ball of filling / 1 teaspoon of filling on each round.
  • Gather scraps, cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
  • Fold the dough over the filling to create a half-moon shape. Press edges together, sealing and crimping with your fingers. Do not leave any gaps or pierogi may open during cooking.
  • Place the pierogi apart on a towel lightly sprinkled with flour (this is important, they can stick to the board), cover loosely with a kitchen cloth so that they don‘t dry out.
  • Repeat with the remaining dough.

-> Cook the pierogi:

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
  • Cook the pierogi in batches (for a 21 cm /8-inch pot I cook about 10-12 dumplings at a time). When they float to the water surface cook them for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the water with a slotted spoon. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the dough.
  • Drain well and transfer onto a plate. Serve warm, pour over some melted butter.
  • Enjoy!

Video

uwagi

- Cooking time: will depend on the thickness of the dough. Cut one pieróg in half to see if the dough is cooked through. Cook the pierogi to your desired consistency. Some like them chewier and some very tender.
- Dough to filling ratio: it's very important but it's also a matter of taste. I like my pierogi dough not too thin but also not very thick. Experiment what works best for you.
- What to do with leftover dough: Cut it into thick strips and use it as pasta eg with soup. You can also fill the leftover dough with fruit with sugar.
- How to store pierogi:
To ensure that the cooked pierogi don‘t stick to each other, brush them lightly with melted butter or oil. Store in a tightly-closed container in the fridge for about 2 days. On the next day, it‘s best to pan-fry them with butter until golden.
Freshly cooked pierogi taste best, so I usually do this: I prepare only the amount of pierogi that we are going to eat on a given day (about 14 per person). I wrap the rest of the dough tightly in plastic foil and put it in the fridge. I place the rest of the filling (or make filling balls from all of the filling) and also tightly wrap in plastic foil and put in the fridge. On the next day (or even on the third day) I'm preparing the rest of the pierogi. If I have more time and I’m making more pierogi in one batch, I freeze them or pan-fry then with butter the next day.
After removing the dough from the fridge, it is good to slightly warm it up (leave it for about 15-30 minutes on the counter), it will be more elastic (this is optional). The next day the dough will be a little gray in color, but we don‘t mind that.
- How to freeze pierogi:
Cooked pierogi: Place the pierogi apart on a tray that is sprinkled well with flour. Freeze until solid. Transfer to containers on plastic bags. Cook like fresh pierogi but take them out once they float to the water surface.
Uncooked pierogi: Note that not boiled raw pierogi are more likely to crack in a freezer than cooked pierogi. I most often freeze raw pierogi though. Place the pierogi on a tray / wooden board sprinkled well with flour (important, dumplings can easily stick to the tray and tear). Arrange the dumplings so that they do not touch each other. When frozen, transfer them into containers or plastic bags. I cook frozen dumplings just like fresh ones, with the difference that you can cook a smaller amount of them at a time, I cook max. 7-8 frozen pierogi at once (and about 10-12 fresh). When you drop too many frozen pierogi at once it will lower the temperature of the water too much and they will burst.
- Rolling out with pasta machine: I have a Kitchen Aid pasta roller attachment. I roll out the dough on setting 4. According to the manufacturer’s instructions you need to roll out the dough on each setting until you get to the setting 4. I’m not doing this, pierogi dough without an egg is easier to roll out than an egg dough or pasta dough. To make it possible, the dough must be well sprinkled with flour, at room temperature, slightly rolled out with a rolling pin (to a thickness of approx. ¾ cm / ½ inch). and smooth (otherwise will tear).
- 1 cup is 240 ml.
- The amount of pierogi: based on the feedback that I got from readers, the amount of pierogi you'll get from this recipe can vary greatly! My pierogi are rather small and I like to pack them with a lot of filling, that's why I got 100 pierogi from this recipe. This may be different for you and you can get only half of this amount.

Nutrition

Kalorie: 2107kcal