Pyrizhky were one of my grandfather’s favourites. He loved the portability of these tiny buns with cheese, potato, onion and dill filling. And, he’d advise me to keep a few in my pockets to have a snack at hand later. Sound advice.
This recipe will take you from the dough through filling then shaping and baking. These are delicious – even better with a creamy dill sauce poured over top. Pyrizhky freeze well. The Instant Pot makes the dough rising more reliable but admittedly not faster.
This recipe makes enough dough for the potato, cheese and dill filling. If you want to make the sweet and savory at the same, double the dough recipe. These photos show a doubled dough recipe.
Start by dissolving 1 packet of traditional yeast into ½ cup warm water and ½ Tablespoon of sugar. The warm water should be 110°F – I use the lowest setting on a variable temperature electric kettle to heat the water perfectly.
While the yeast mixture is bubbling away, combine the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. This could be the bowl from your stand mixer or a large bowl if you intend to knead by hand.
Beat 2 eggs with ¼ cup vegetable oil, ½ cup warm water, 1 Tablespoon sugar and ½ teaspoon salt. I heat up ½ cup of milk in the microwave for about 90 seconds. Add 2 tablespoons of cold butter to the milk to cool it off slightly.
The yeast mixture will foam up. If not, your yeast may be expired.
Combine the yeast mixture with the liquid mixture.
Add half of the flour – 2 cups of flour to start. With a stand mixer, it’s easiest to start with a paddle and switch to a dough hook.
Once the dough mixture is smoother, add the remaining flour. Depending on the flour, you may need to add more than 4 cups of flour in total. Add more flour gradually until the dough forms a ball. Knead on a low speed on the mixer for about 5 minutes. If kneading by hand, spend about 10 minutes kneading.
Using the Instant Pot, place the steamer insert into the bottom of the pot. Centre the dough on a piece of parchment paper and slide it into the Instant Pot.
Use a glass lid to keep the heat in and let you peek at the rising progress on the dough.
Set the Instant Pot to the Yogurt setting for 60 minutes. The Yogurt setting is pretty long so I found it was easier to set a separate timer.
After an hour, the dough should roughly double in size. Now it’s time to shape the individual pieces of dough. Unlike varenyky or pyrohe, this dough isn’t rolled out and then cut into circles. This part is actually easier.
Pull a small piece of dough.
It should be the size of a walnut or golf ball.
Pull out about 6 to 10 balls and let them rest on the counter. Keep in mind the order that you made them in. So, you’ll start with the dough ball that had the most time to rest.
Pat the first ball of dough into a circle with your hands. You can stretch the dough a bit. I find it’s easiest to flatten it on the cutting board.
Form the filling into a tight ball. Pinch the dough together around the filling while avoiding any of the filling messing up the area to be sealed.
Put the seam side down on a cookie sheet and arrange them in a grid. They’ll expand so leave at least an inch around each one. Cover with a tea towel and leave them to rise for 30 to 45 minutes.
It’s fine to stop here. Or, eat one or two hot out of the oven. If you’re going to freeze them, cool them on racks and freeze them solid on sheets before bagging.
Cream sauce with dill
Start the sauce with onions and green onions in a pan. Here, I’m using ½ cup of cooked Instant Onions and 2 chopped green onions with 2 Tablespoons butter. You could also slowly cook raw onions over low heat.
Add 1 Tablespoon flour and stir until it’s combined. Add 1 cup of whipping cream and bring to a boil until it’s thicker.
Add in 1 cup of chopped, fresh dill.
Pour the sauce over the pyrizhky. If you’re making a lot of things together for a big dinner, you can pour the sauce over, cover with foil and keep them warm in a low, 300°F oven.
Instant Pot bread dough for pyrizhky - baked pyrohy
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 envelope traditional yeast
- ½ Tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 eggs beaten
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk hot
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 4-5 cups all-purpose flour
Dill Cream Sauce
- 2 green onions chopped
- ½ cup cooked onions
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon flour
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 cup fresh dill chopped
Instructions
Dough
- Dissolve the yeast, sugar and 110°F warm water together. Allow to proof for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the milk in the microwave for 90 seconds. Add the cold butter to cool it slightly.
- Combine the 2 beaten eggs with ¼ cup oil, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup warm water, and 1 Tablespoon sugar.
- Add the yeast mixture to the liquid.
- Combine 2 cups of flour using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Switch to a dough hook and add the remaining 2 cups of flour. If the dough does not pull away from the sides of the bowl, gradually add flour until it forms a ball.
- Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper. insert the steam rack into the Instant Pot and place the dough on top. Cover with a glass lid.
- Set the Instant Pot to the Yogurt setting (not boil) for 1 hour.
- Pull walnut-sized pieces of dough out of the pot and allow to rest on a board.
- Flatten the dough into a circle and fill with your choice of filling.
- Seal the edges and place on a cookie sheet seal side down.
- Cover the pyrizhky with a tea towel and let rise 30 to 45 more minutes.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
Sauce
- Saute the onions in butter until the green onion is softened, about 4 minutes
- Add the flour and stir to combine
- Add the whipping cream and bring to a boil until the sauce thickens
- Add the chopped dill
