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New Vareneki Dough (Perogy)



I got this recipe from my friend Elsie who has been making perogies for generations.  She too got the recipe from her mother and her mother before that. As usual, the recipe said "add enough flour to make a soft dough". Her daughter Lorrie, who is also one of my dearest friends, took the time to measure each ingredient out to make it perfect so she can pass the recipe and tradition on to her children. Elsie says, the best recipes are the simplest recipes, and she was right! In our grandmother and great grand mother's era they didn't have the luxury of rich ingredients available to them at all times. These ingredients make a soft and elastic dough and I did not have one perogy open while boiling.  Follow the recipe exactly and you won't have any trouble. Thanks Lorrie for perfecting the ingredients amounts saving us all the trouble of figuring out what a soft dough means.
NOTE: This dough has no dairy in it, there for it has a bit more of a "chew" or "bite" to the texture when you eat the finished product. Using dairy like milk, cream or sour cream makes the dough more tender and has a softer bite to it. 
  • 8 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 3/4  cups hot water
  • 3/4 cups oil
  1. In a large mixer with a dough hook attachment add 8 cups of flour to the mixing bowl. Can easily be done by hand if you don't have a mixer large enough to make dough. 
  2. Heat the water til it is almost too hot to touch or hot water from the tap. 
  3. Add the oil and the hot water to the flour, knead the dough for about 5 minutes in the mixer or ten minutes if you are doing it by hand. 
  4. Let the dough rest for at least an hour or more on the counter. 
  5. Divide into 4 balls to make the rolling of the dough easier to manage. Cover the remaining dough with plastic wrap to keep from getting a dry outer crust.
  6.  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough thin, cut in circles or 3 inch squares. 
  7. Place the prepared perogies on parchment lined cookie sheets. Can be frozen at this stage if you desire. Once completely frozen place them into ziplocked bags. 
  8. To cook, have ready a large pot of boiling water. Place perogies into the water without crowding too much and boil for a few minutes. Once they float to the top boil another 3-5 minutes. If you are cooking them frozen, cook about 8-10 minutes.
  9. This amount makes about 15 dozen 3 1/4 in circles. 
For 1 recipe of dough, I used 2- 650 gm containers of dry cottage cheese (3 cups), mixed with 2 eggs, salt and pepper (optional) as desired. 


Tip - I use a round cutter to make cottage cheese, cut 3" squares for the potato and cheddar cheese filling and shape them into a triangle, and shape the squares into rectangles or squares for the fruit filling, so there is no guessing as to what they are filled with. Plus cutting them in squares means no rolling and re rolling.
For filling ideas check out Kathy's suggestions here.

Try to pinch them a little fancy for that special someone, or if you have four options of a variety of perogies. 


24 comments:

  1. O my - those look good. My sister who lives in Northern Ontario (Dryden) makes these all the time and I have never attempted them. I just might have to try them now with this great recipe and tutorial - thanks Charlotte!!

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  2. I am assuming for the hot water and oil the measurement is cups?

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    1. Thank you for pointing that out, I amended the recipe.

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  3. Since I discovered the recipe with oil many years ago I have never used the recipe my mother used. Just one word on the flour amount. Because the moisture content or dryness of flour can vary the flour amount is never written in stone for me. Feel is still important.

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  4. My 95 year old mother makes these twice a year, at Christmas and the 4th of July when my sister and her kids, grandkids and great-grandkids come to Oklahoma from Houston. My dad didn't like them because he grew up eating them. The rest of us love them. My folks grew up in a Mennonite town: Corn Oklahoma. I recognize a lot of the last names that you mention, my maiden name is Kroeker. Some of my family went to Canada when they immigrated in the late 1800's. My mother was a Friesen and my grandmother was an Ediger.

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  5. I have a question about the filling.. what did you mean when you wrote "2- 650 containers of dry cottage cheese" ?? I would love to try your recipe soon ~ Thanks for sharing. I'm half Polish and grew up eating .. and making pierogi. We love them.

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    1. 650 gms, container which equals to about 3 cups.

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  6. Love wareneki! My hubby and I made and sold thousands of them at Farmer's Markets for 10 yrs! We had several different fillings which we developed. Now that we're retired we don't have any in the freezer...typical right?! One of these days....

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  7. Love wareneki! My hubby and I made and sold thousands of them at Farmer's Markets for 10 yrs! We had several different fillings which we developed. Now that we're retired we don't have any in the freezer...typical right?! One of these days....

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  8. How do you cook them???

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    1. Add a bunch to boiling water and when they float to the top they are done. Drain in a colander.

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  9. When you measure the flour for the perogy dough do you scoop the flour into cup and then level or do you spoon flour into cup and then level?

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    1. I scooped the flour into the cup and then leveled it.

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  10. Charlotte---- what is the filling amount--- did you put in a teaspoon or tablespoon ---:)

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    1. The amount I used was a rounded teaspoon that we eat with not measure with. I am not exactly sure if that would make a full Tablespoon or not. I would suggest you use the amount of filling that you are comfortable working with. Some people fill it really round, and I didn't.

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  11. They look fabulous! I love potato perogies. The dough looks very elastic --I'll try making it. Thanks!

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  12. I would love to try using this dough for my Cornish pasties (British meat pies) - usually I make a hot water pastry for that - do you think this would work? Pasties are oven baked and hot water pastry is sturdier than regular pie pastry. TIA!

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    1. I am sorry, I didn't see this comment before. I have never baked this dough, so I don't how that would work. If you try it, let us know.

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  13. Looks yummy, I have made a different type, that adds sour cream and eggs to it. this looks nice and easy, I'll have to test it out on my son who loves perogies.

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  14. Is the salt mixed in with the flour?

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    1. Yes, mix in the salt with the flour before adding the wet ingredients.

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  15. How do you make the nice fancy pinching or crimping around the edge of the perogies? Could you show us that (video or photos) or explain the process....would love to try it, it looks so nice. Thanks! :)

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  16. Mennonite boy here! I use this dough for thin crust pizza, who would have thought it could be boiled, absolutely amazing!

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  17. I have made vareneki for years and always struggled with the dough recipe my mother used. I used this recipe once and will never change. It is so easy and wonderful to work with!

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