Baba’s Homemade Perogies

Each summer growing up, my brother and I would spend a good chunk of time at my Baba’s house a few hours away from our hometown.  Our visits were filled with things kids’ dreams are made of – exploring, gardening, painting, fort building, teepee making, and cooking – and one of the things I most looked forward to each summer was making homemade perogies!  There’s really nothing not to like about them…  Doughy little pockets filled with potatoes and cheese and served with butter and sour cream?  Yes please!  Plus they’re fun to make too.

So with Baba currently visiting us on her way through to Singapore for a cruise {lucky duck!}, we just had to make perogies.  After all, who better for Miss G to learn from than the perogy master herself?!  {Seriously, I’m guessing that my Baba has made tens of thousands of perogies in her lifetime – the woman could probably make them in her sleep!}

And the fact that Miss G got to experience making perogies with my Baba just as I did as a little girl?  That makes my heart very happy.

Here’s a peek at the process {and Baba’s go-to recipe}…

First the dough…

Then balls…

The balls become little pancakes…

And get stuffed and sealed.

And while most often you’d make a ton of these babies, freeze them on pans, and then transfer them to freezer bags, today we cooked them all up and had a perogie feast for dinner.  YUM.

Here’s Baba’s famous recipe…  {I hope you don’t mind me sharing, Baba!}

 

Baba’s Homemade Perogies

• 3 cups of warm water
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 egg

• 7 cups of all-purpose flour*
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of sugar*

• mashed potatoes with dry cottage cheese or cheddar cheese mixed in

 

Whisk together the wet ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients and mix well before dumping the dough onto a work surface and kneading.  Knead until the dough is nice and elastic and not sticky, but not so long that it becomes tough.  Cover and let the dough rest for several hours or overnight.

When ready, roll the dough into 1 inch balls and then flatten using a rolling pin.  Place a scoop of the potato mixture on the flattened dough ball, fold in half so that it encloses the potato, and pinch the edges shut firmly.

The finished perogies can be frozen or cooked fresh.  To cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil and gently place the perogies into the water.  In order to prevent sticking, give the pot a stir every once and a while.  When the perogies float to the top, strain out the water and serve with melted butter and sautéed onions.

Enjoy!

*Despite it probably breaking all Ukrainian rules, my Baba was a very good sport and let us use coconut sugar and mostly all wholewheat flour this time around…  The good news?  Our perogies still turned out perfectly!

 

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