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These baked piroshki are ultra soft. I made half of them with caramelized apples and half with braised cabbage and beef. Both were excellent fillings. I took these baked piroshki over to my sister’s house still warm from the oven and my sister admitted to eating 6 of them. She loved ’em! Actually everyone did.
Between the two filled 9×13″ pans, I only brought home 6 piroshky/buns. I bet this dough would make great dinner rolls. I’ve also been thinking to wrap the dough around sausages to make pretzel dogs. I can’t stop thinking about this dough!
Ingredients for Baked Piroshki:
2 cups warm milk
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar, divided
6 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, (divided into 1 cup and 5 cups + 2 Tbsp) *measured correctly
3 eggs,
1 and 1/2 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
Tip for Success:
A yeast dough will rise much faster in a warm oven. When letting a yeast dough rise in the oven, it should never be hotter than 100˚F. If you have a proofing option on your oven, use it. My old oven didn’t have such a luxury and the low setting was at 150˚F which will start cooking your bread, deactivate the yeast and ruin your buns.
I used to get creative by preheating to low, turning the oven off, propping the door with a wooden spoon and placing my dough over a towel in the oven. I’ve ruined yeast dough before by letting it get to hot and I’d love to spare you the same disappointment.
For the Apple Filling:
Use the apple filling from the fried apple pirojki: 2 medium apples + 1/4 cup sugar. Chop apples finely in food processor then saute with 1/4 cup sugar over medium high heat for 10 min stirring often until most of the juice has evaporated. Set aside to cool. For sweet piroshki, brush the top with sugar water as soon as they are done baking. (1 Tbsp sugar dissolved into 2 Tbsp warm water).
For the Braised Cabbage filling:
Click here for the Braised cabbage with Beef recipe. P.S. Make sure to cut your beef small if using for piroshki.
How to Make the Baked Piroshki/Buns:
Preheat your oven to 360°F at step 13.
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add 2 cups warm milk and sprinkle the top with 1 Tbsp yeast. Let sit for 5-7 five minutes.
2. Add 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk together until blended and let it rise at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. It will rise faster in a warm place (20 minutes in a 100˚ Foven, but don’t let it get hotter than that or it will start to cook and ruin the yeast).
3. Whisk in the 3 eggs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1.5 Tbsp melted butter and 1 tsp salt. Now using the dough hook, add the flour 1 cup at a time letting it blend into the dough before adding the next cup. (Add the last cup 1/2 cup at a time so you don’t over-do it).
You know you’ve added enough flour when the dough is no longer sticking to the walls of the bowl. So, all together from start to finish, I used 6 cups + 2 Tbsp but it could vary slightly depending on the flour you use. Mix/knead on low speed with the dough hook for 15 minutes. .
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm 100˚ oven for 1 hour (2 hours in a warm room). The dough will triple in volume. Be patient. It’s all worth it in the end. 😉
5. Transfer your dough to a good non-stick surface and cut into 5 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll each piece of dough into a 13-14″ circle.
6. Cut each circle with a pizza cutter into 8 equal triangles. Place about 1/2 Tbsp of filling onto the middle of the wide portion of each triangle (The OXO mini scoop makes this job easier. I love this little contraption!)
7. To Roll: pinch the two edges together over the filling and seal all the way down. Seal the dough to the base over the filling. Fold in the little corners and roll it forward. Since it helps to visualize, here’s a picture of all the rolling steps from left to right:
8. Once the piroshki are rolled up, place on a parchment lined baking sheet 1/2″ apart with the flap side facing down so they aren’t tempted to unroll. Let the piroshki rise in a warm 100˚ oven for 20 minutes until they look puffy (30-45 minutes in a warm room).
(See how they puff up nicely and are now touching each other? Now they’re ready for the oven)
9. Beat 1 egg and brush the tops of the piroshki with the beaten egg. Bake at 360˚F for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
If you are making the sweet apple piroshki, brush them with your sugar/water glaze just as soon as they are out of the oven to give them some extra shimmer and sweetness.
Enjoy em!
Baked Piroshki Recipe (2 Filling Options: Sweet or Savory!)

Ingredients
- 2 cups warm milk
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup sugar, divided
- 6 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, (divided into 1 cup and 5 cups + 2 Tbsp)
- 3 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp melted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg, beaten for egg wash
Instructions
For the Apple Filling:
- You need: 2 Apples and 1/3 cup granulated sugar.
- Chop apples finely in food processor then saute with 1/4 cup sugar over medium high heat for 10 min stirring often until most of the juice has evaporated. Set aside to cool. For sweet piroshki, brush the top with sugar water as soon as they are done baking. (1 Tbsp sugar dissolved into 2 Tbsp warm water).
For the Braised Cabbage filling: visit NatashasKitchen.com for the full Braised cabbage with Beef recipe. P.S. Make sure to cut your beef small if using for piroshki.
How to Make the Piroshki/Buns: (Preheat your oven to 360° F at step 8).
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add 2 cups warm milk and sprinkle the top with 1 Tbsp yeast. Let sit for 5-7 five minutes.
- Add 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk together until blended and let it rise at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. It will rise faster in a warm place (20 minutes in a 100˚ oven, but don't let it get hotter than that or it will start to cook and ruin the yeast).
- Whisk in the 3 eggs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1.5 Tbsp melted butter and 1 tsp salt. Now using the dough hook, add the flour 1 cup at a time letting it blend into the dough before adding the next cup. (Add the last cup 1/2 cup at a time so you don't over-do it). You know you've added enough flour when the dough is no longer sticking to the walls of the bowl. I ended up adding 6 cups + 2 Tbsp but it could vary slightly depending on the flour you use. Mix/knead on low speed with the dough hook for 15 minutes.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm 100˚F oven for 1 hour (2 hours in a warm room). The dough will triple in volume. Be patient. It's all worth it in the end.
- Transfer your dough to a good non-stick surface and cut into 5 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll each piece of dough into a 13-14" circle.
- Cut each circle with a pizza cutter into 8 equal triangles. Place about 1/2 Tbsp of filling onto the middle of the wide portion of each triangle.
- To Roll: pinch the two edges together over the filling and seal all the way down. Seal the dough to the base over the filling. Fold in the little corners and roll it forward.
- Once the piroshki are rolled up, place on a parchment lined baking sheet 1/2" apart with the flap side facing down so they aren't tempted to unroll. Let the piroshki rise in a warm 100˚ oven for 20 minutes until they look puffy (30-45 minutes in a warm room). The will puff up nicely and will be touching each other. Now they're ready for the oven.
- Beat 1 egg and brush the tops of the piroshki with the beaten egg. Bake at 360˚F for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Notes
Tip for Success: Yeast dough will rise much faster in a warm oven. When letting a yeast dough rise in the oven, it should never be hotter than 100˚F. If you have a proofing option on your oven, use it. My old oven didn't have such a luxury and the low setting was at 150˚F which will start cooking your bread, deactivate the yeast and ruin your buns. I used to get creative by preheating to low, turning the oven off, propping the door with a wooden spoon and placing my dough over a towel in the oven. I've ruined yeast dough before by letting it get to hot and I'd love to spare you the same disappointment.
Credits: The dough and apple filling was inspired by my one my readers, Ira, who shared her family’s recipe for baked piroshki. P.S. she said a bread maker works well for the dough. Thank you so much Ira for sharing your brilliant and simple recipe with us!
Excellent! We just made this with the braised cabbage and beef filling for our Ukranian/Russian themed Christmas lunch and it was fantastic. My wife and I had never made this before but succeeded thanks to you two lots of clear instructions. We are still enjoying these post-Christmas via oven reheating. Thank you so much, Natasha from Ipswich, Australia.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Sean!
Hi Natasha,
I love this recipe! About to make again. Can I let the dough rise overnight in the fridge? Either before I assemble or after?
Thank you!
Hi Lena, this dough is very similar to my overnight cinnamon rolls recipe and that one I fully made the cinnamon rolls and instead of letting them rise on the last rise, I covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight. The day I was baking them, I let them sit at room temperature for the last rise and then baked. I think that same strategy could work well with these 🙂
Hi Natasha,
I’m making this recipe for my son’s cultural day at school. I’m russian, so he is extremely fascinated with the culture. Such a great recipe. I have to say all your recipes are amazing. Thank you from New Zealand
Thank you so much for your awesome feedback, Natasha. I hope you love every recipe that you try from my website!
Dear Natasha! Hello from Georgia ( Caucasus) and thank you very much for such brilliant recipe! I made piroshki firs time and it is super delicious!!! Whish you all the best! Marina Meskhi
Helo Marina from Georgia. You are most welcome! I’m so happy to hear that you loved this recipe. I hope that you will love every recipe that you will try!
Hello! I am really excited to try this recipe, but had a quick question. I’m a beginning chef, but would like to use white whole wheat flour when making these buns. I know that you have probably not tried it yourself, but from your experience, do you think that the yeast would still effectively work with white whole wheat flour?
Hello Sarah, you’re right I have not tried that yet to advise. I don’t usually use wheat flour so I cannot really tell. Maybe the others have tried it and could give some advice? Please share and let us know.
Hi, do you have the metric measurements for this?
Thanks!
Hi Sabrina, We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes but it is taking some time as we have to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
A trick I learned from Chef John when making Creme Fraise, is to use use your oven light to warm the oven. It puts mine at about 85F.
So that’s what I do for yeast breads also.
Making your Piroshki’s now for the first time. Beef and cheese.
Nice tip, thanks for sharing that with us. I hope your Piroshki turns out great! Please share with us how it goes.
Hi Natasha. Absolutely love your site! This is probably a silly question, but do you use the fully cooked cabbage & beef mixture (i.e. follow that recipe to the end) or do you add that mixture before it’s fully cooked since it’s going in the oven inside the dough for a while? Can’t wait to give this a try!
Hi Anastasiya, yes, the mixture is fully cooked before filling the piroshki. I hope you love this recipe!
Thanks for the quick response! I’ll be sure to let you know
Love them. How do I store/freeze?
Hi Alex, I honestly haven’t tried freezing the fried piroshki. I don’t think they would freeze well raw though. If I were to freeze them, I would freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet then place them in a freezer-safe container or bag. I would bake to rewarm them so they don’t get soggy. Let me know if you experiment.
Hey it’s me again,
I wanted to ask if leaving the dough in the refrigerator over night will ruin the dough.
Hi Natalya, I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure how it would affect the overall consistency. Refrigerating works with most yeast doughs using active dry yeast. If anyone else has experimented, please let us know.
Hello, I was going to make these piroshki, but I wanted to make less (25). I’m still a beginner, so I don’t really understand how I’m supposed to measure amounts like 0.63 tbsp yeast. Is there a way to do this?
Hi Ana, the best way to convert is to look at the grams and cut those in half then measure things out by weights using a digital cooking scale or getting an approximate measure which is less reliable i.e. a rounded half Tablespoon of yeast.
How could I make this with a potato filling and can I use a bread maker to make the dough?
Hi Eliza, I haven’t tried this dough in the breadmaker to say for sure. I think it’s worth an experiment. Let me know if you test it out. I have had very tasty results using potato filling and then dipping them in a garlic dip. Oh so yummy!
Hi, these were so good!!! I didn’t use the bread maker but they were still delicious with the potato filling. Thanks Natasha!!!
That’s so great Eliza! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Hey Natasha,
These piroshki look very good and I want to try the apple filling ones for my culinary final. Can I please get a estimate on the amount it would cost ?
Hi Natalya, it is hard to say. Pricing is different in each region or area.
Hi I am making this recipe for the first time.I have a low setting on my oven BUT is it safe touse plastic wrap in an oven ?
Hi Annie, most plastic wrap is safe up to 220-250 degrees
I have made this many many times in the last couple months, love them. I suggest trying them with raisin pie filling. A lovely gooey treat.
I will have to try that! Thank you for sharing that with me!
Natasha, I loved this recipe so much, especially my family! I’d love to use this dough again because it was absolutely delicious and was wondering if there was another filling I could use. Maybe some kind of cheese filling?
Hi Inna, I Have to make some with a cheese filling soon. You might try replacing it with farmers cheese. Sorry, I don’t have a great recipe for that filling posted yet. I also love them with fresh cherries! Too bad they are out of season.
Hi Inna
I make this with farm cheese mixed with an egg and salt and pepper. It’s delish!
Hello Natasha. I tried these and they are so yummy!
Can they be frozen after they are baked and cooled?
I have a request… you should post a blog on how it’s important not to over knead the dough and so it doesn’t over rises.
What happens if the dough over rises?
I enjoy baking a lot! However, I’m a beginner so I don’t
Hi Lana, I have never tried that but I think it’s worth experimenting! Be sure to thaw and then bring it to room temp to let it rise one final time before baking. Thank you for your suggestion!
We freeze the completed product all the time. Reheat the piroshki in a wet paper towel at full power for one minute. Amazing. We also do pizza fillings – our kid loves them.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
In steps 1 and 2 when I add only one cup of flour to the yeast + milk mixture I don’t get a dough, its wayyyy too wet.
Hi Olga, yes that is correct and part of the proofing process. You add the remaining flour in step 3.
Thanks for the recipe Natasha. I recently lost my Ukrainian Grandmother and was keen to bake these, they turned out perfecto. I filled mine with Farm Style Cottage Cheese, and they were a lovely sweet and salty combo.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review and sharing that with me!
I love how easy it is to make. This is my first time making them. They came out perfect. Can I freeze some of the dough for later and how long?
Hi Minnie. I hope you saw my previous reply. I haven’t tried freezing this dough so I can’t say. I’m so happy this was easy and worked out for you!
natashas, can I freeze some of the piroshki dough and how long?
Hi Minnie, I haven’t tried freezing this dough yet. I am curious if it would work since I have seen frozen dough in the store before. If you experiment I would love to know how it turns out.