Russian Piroshki (pirojki) with apples – Пирожки

Piroshki are a classic Russian/ Ukrainian specialty. You can make them with fruit, mashed potatoes, meat or cheese. These have apples in them. Make these on a warm day when you can open your windows and air out the house; unless you like the “fried” aroma. These fluffy goodies are delicious and get devoured quickly.

Cost to make: $3 to $4
Servings: makes 15 to 20 piroshki

Ingredients for the Dough:
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
15 oz luke warm water
4 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (divided)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
1 tablespoon sugar (omit sugar if doing meat or potato filling)

Ingredients for Filling:
2 to 3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped finely (I use a food processor and pulse several times)
1/4 cup sugar (1/4 teaspoon per piroshok)

Other Ingredients:
Enough canola oil to go half-way up the side of the piroshky when frying.
Extra flour to dust the cutting board.

How to make the Dough:

1. The easiest way to do this is in a bread maker. If you have one, set it to the dough setting and add the ingredients in the following order: Oil, water, 2 cups flour, salt, sugar, 2 cups + 2 tbsp flour* , yeast.
A bread maker will do the following: mix, let dough rise, mix again and let the dough rise (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours)

*to get an flour exact measurement, use a dry ingredients measuring cup and scrape off the top with the back of a butter knife.

You can also make this dough using a stand mixer with a dough hook and then letting it rise in a warm place (like the oven).

2. Put the finished dough onto a well floured cutting board, sprinkle dough with flour and with well-floured hands, shape it into a large log. It will rise more as it sits on the board.

3. Cut off pieces one at a time about 3/4″ thick.

4. Place the piece of dough over your well-floured hand (dough will be sticky) and shape it into a 3″ to 4″ circle using your hands. Do not put flour on the side where you are going to put the apples, otherwise the sides won’t seal.

5. Put 1/4 teaspoon sugar in the center of the dough and put 1 heaping tablespoon of apple over the sugar. cover the apple with the sides of the dough and pinch the ends together with your fingers to seal the dough together.

6. Flatten the pirojki slightly to make them a more uniform size.

6. Heat oil in a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan. There should be enough oil to cover the pirojki half-way up the side.

7. Place them in the hot oil (about 330 degrees F) and fry until deep golden brown on each side. They shoudl sizzle when you put them in the oil. Sometimes they puff up a lot on one side so you may end up with a third side that needs to be fried.

8. Place on paper towels to cool and enjoy!