These twice-baked potato pirogies are wonderful little filled dumplings - potatoes, cheese, bacon - pure comfort food.
These pierogies are a take on the Polish pierogi, which is typically filled with potatoes, cheese, cabbage, meat, or sweet fillings. As someone who loves anything potato and cheese, I had to try these, with a twist!
Pierogies are Eastern European stuffed dumplings, usually boiled and then often pan fried. They are similar to Chinese dumplings and potstickers, except that the dough wrapper is a bit thicker than the Asian version and the filling is typically heartier, and often includes dairy. Plus the folding technique in the Asian version is much more delicate and exacting.
The Ukrainian versions are called varenyky.
Pierogies were brought to the U.S. by Eastern and Central Europeans and are popular in areas where they settled. In some regions, they are a Christmas tradition, similar to tamales in the Southwest.
Families get together around the holiday and assemble dozens of pierogies.
Ingredients in These Pierogies:
For the Dough Wrappers:
Flour, salt, milk, eggs, and sour cream.
For the Filling:
For these pierogies, I decided to use the ingredients from twice-baked potatoes for the filling.
I used baked potatoes rather than boiled, sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, butter, chives, and that magical ingredient, bacon.
To Make Twice-Baked Potato Pierogies:
First, make the dough by combining flour, salt, milk, eggs, and sour cream in a stand mixer. When the dough comes together, wrap it and let it rest for an hour so that the gluten relaxes.
While the dough is resting, you can make the filling by combining just-baked potatoes, salt, pepper, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar, and chives.
Next, add the cooked and chopped bacon, and mix it into the filling.
After that, roll out the dough into a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick rectangle and cut the dough with a 3-inch round cookie cutter or drinking glass, and place the rounds on a flour-dusted counter or baking sheet. Keep the rounds covered until ready to fill. The dough may shrink after cutting, but you can stretch it back out when filling.
Re-roll out your dough scraps and continue to cut rounds. You may have to let the dough scraps relax before rolling for the second time. You can begin filling the dough rounds you already have while the rest of the dough relaxes.
Fill each dough round with a tablespoon of filling and crimp the edges together to form a half-moon.
You can press the edges together with your finger or use a fork to crimp the edges.
Boil the assembled pierogies for about four minutes in water and then, if desired, pan-fry them in garlic butter for about two to three minutes per side, until lightly browned.
You will love the combination of the potatoes, cheeses, and bacon in these pierogies.
A Few Tips for Pierogi Success:
Be sure to use a little bit of water on the edges of the dough rounds to seal in the filling.
When boiling the pierogies, simmer them in batches so that they are in a single layer in the pan and don't stick together. You can "park" already boiled dumplings in a single layer on a baking sheet or large plate while boiling the rest.
To freeze the pierogies before boiling, place them in a single layer on plates or baking sheets (whatever will fit in your freezer) and freeze them, uncovered, for about an hour. Transfer the frozen pierogies to freezer bags and keep frozen. When ready to use, boil from frozen for an extra two to three minutes.
You can keep bags of the frozen pierogies in your freezer and take out as many as you want when you have a pierogi craving (see photo of frozen pierogies below). There is no need to thaw them before boiling.
You could use Chinese dumpling wrappers, but be sure to cut the boiling time by half.
While not difficult, this is a pretty labor intensive process, which is why I recommend assembling and freezing to cook later.
If you have leftover pan-fried pierogies, you can refrigerate them and reheat them later in the toaster oven. I topped some with cheddar cheese before reheating in the toaster oven for a tasty and crispy treat.
I also ended up with about 3/4 cup of leftover filling. I used it to fill the leftover baked potato skins, topped them with cheese, and placed them under the broiler for a great appetizer.
Top these pierogies with sour cream and chives, and perhaps more bacon bits for an even better twice-baked-potato experience!
Perfect Pierogi Recipes
- Bacon, Cheddar, Caramelized Onion, and Potato Pierogi from The Spiffy Cookie
- Spinach Mushroom Pierogi Casserole from That Recipe
- Sweet Potato Gruyère Pierogi from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
- Twice-Baked Potato Pierogis from Karen's Kitchen Stories
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Twice-Baked Potato Pierogies
Ingredients
- 510 grams (4 cups) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup full-fat sour cream
- 3 to 4 large russet potatoes, about 2 pounds.
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
- 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 4 ounces (1 cup) shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions or chives
- Salt (or garlic salt) and pepper to taste
- 8 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour and salt.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together the milk, eggs, and sour cream.
- With the mixer running on medium low, fitted with the dough hook, slowly add the milk mixture until the dough begins to come together. If necessary, add more flour by teaspoon, until you have a cohesive dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest for an hour.
- Bake the potatoes at 425 degrees F until fully cooked, about an hour. Scoop the potato pulp into a bowl and roughly mash it with a fork.
- While the potato pulp is still hot, add the butter, cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar, scallions or chives, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Fold in the cooked bacon.
- Roll out the dough into a 1/8 to 1/4 inch rectangle. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut the dough into 3 inch rounds. Place the rounds on a lightly floured surface and cover with plastic wrap while you are working with the rest of the dough.
- Dollop 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of a dough round and, using your finger, wet the edge of half of the dough round with water. Fold the dough over and press together. Make small indentations along the edges of the dough with your fingers.
- At this point, you can either freeze or boil the pierogies. See notes in the post regarding freezing and cooking from frozen.
- Bring about six quarts of salted water to a boil. Boil the pierogies, about 5 at a time (in a single layer) for about 4 to five minutes, until they rise to the top and the dough is fully cooked. Place the boiled dumplings on a plate while you continue to cook the rest.
- To fry, Melt about a half stick of butter in a 12-inch non-stick skillet and stir in the garlic over medium low heat.
- When the butter is bubbly, place the dumplings in concentric circles around the pan, fitting in as many as you can in a single layer. Cover the pan, and pan fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, until browned. Turn the dumplings, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes, until lightly browned.
- Remove the cooked dumplings to a plate and repeat with the rest of the pierogies.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
103Fat (grams)
5 gSat. Fat (grams)
2 gCarbs (grams)
12 gFiber (grams)
1 gNet carbs
12 gSugar (grams)
1 gProtein (grams)
3 gCholesterol (grams)
20 mg
These are making my mouth water! That golden crispy outside and delicious twice baked potato filling inside. YUM! I have very fond memories of all of us in the kitchen stuffing, boiling, and frying pierogies for dinner with some cabbage rolls.
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