What would make a woman who made pyrogy (peroghies, perohe, varenyky, and so on) change the recipe that she had used for over fifty years? Here it is – the best dough recipe ever. Or at least my baba thought so.
This is a soft dough that’s easy to roll out and shape. It’s just the right ratio of everything – and a cup of butter or margarine can’t hurt. The dough doesn’t use the Instant Pot but the fillings will.
I’ve tried a lot of recipes for pyrohy dough. One with yogurt (weird and watery). Another recipe used sour cream for almost all of the liquid. Yet another family recipe put mashed potatoes into the dough (finicky because the moisture in the potatoes was so variable).
My baba made thousands upon thousands of these little dumplings in her lifetime. When she moved into a retirement home, she continued to cook with new friends. This recipe came from Annie, one of those new friends – I wish I knew her name to fully credit her.
A typical varenyky-pyrohy dough is water, vegetable oil, an egg, flour and salt. This is an amazing recipe – maybe even magical. But isn’t everything with a cup of butter* in it?
* But, this recipe works great for vegans, too! Using margarine makes this an ideal dough for the dairy-free Sviata Vecheria Christmas Eve dinner. I substituted Tofutti’s “Better Than Sour Cream” dairy free sour cream in this recipe for my lactose-intolerant friends, and it worked great.
Start off by whisking together 2 eggs, 1 ½ cups cool water and 3 to 4 Tablespoons of sour cream. Set this aside.
Mix 6 cups of all-purpose flour with 1 cup of room temperature butter or margarine and 2 teaspoons of salt. You can use your hands or a pastry blender. It’s not as critical as keeping the butter cold for pastry. Just mix until it resembles fine crumbs.
Combine the wet ingredients with the flour mixture. It’s not pretty at first.
It’s easy to knead dough in a bowl that’s in your sink. It helps you get a better angle. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until it’s smooth and not sticky. You could also use a dough hook on a stand mixer – but work the dough just until it forms a smooth ball. Avoid overworking the dough.
Divide the dough ball into quarters and cover with a dish towel to prevent it from drying out.
Roll out one of the dough portions on a lightly floured surface until it’s about an eighth of an inch thick.
At this point, I should probably admit that my mom is doing all the work in these photos.
Cut out circles that are about 3 inches (or 7.5 centimeters) in diameter. I like to use a normal sized (not red wine) wine glass. You can also use a sharp round cookie cutter.
Wet your finger and moisten the circumference of the circle.
Take about a heaping teaspoon of filling and place it in the center of the dough. These dumplings are filled with a mixture of potato, cooked onion and vegan sour cream. But, you can mix it up with a recipe for potato, cheese and dill filling.
Pinch all the way around to seal and avoid any air pockets.
You can boil them right away. If you’re unsure about the seal, boil a few to test them before you continue.
If you’re freezing them, arrange them in rows on a cookie sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper. After they’re frozen solid, transfer them into bags.
Special equipment
- Large bowl
- Pastry cutter (optional)
- Rolling pin
- Round cookie cutter or wine glass with a 3 inch diameter
- Waxed or parchment paper
Baba's best perohe-varenyky-pyrogy dough
Ingredients
- 2 eggs well beaten
- 1 ½ cups cool water
- 3 to 4 tablespoons sour cream or dairy-free sour cream substitute
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Combine 2 eggs, 1 ½ cups cool water and 3 to 4 tablespoons of sour cream with a whisk. Set aside.
- Mix 6 cups of all-purpose flour with 1 cup of room temperature butter or margarine and 2 teaspoons of salt until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
- Mix the liquid into the flour mixture and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
- Divide the dough in 4 pieces. Use tea towels to prevent the other pieces of dough from drying out. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
- Roll out a piece of dough until it's 1/8th of an inch thick and cut out circles.
- Moisten the edges, add a heaping teaspoon of filling and seal.
- Lay out finished dumplings on a cookie sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper.
- If freezing, freeze on the cookie sheets and bag after they're frozen
