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I’ve been meaning to make vareniki with plums for a long, long, long, long time. I halved my recipe for pelmeni dough. Why? (1) It’s blazing hot outside and I didn’t want to spend half the day making these. (2) I suspect hot days make me lazy. (3) I wanted to go shopping ;).
Admittedly my pierogi are, well, ugly and at times a little frumpy, but they sure taste good. Plum vareniki are quite a treat; sweet inside and out. This was my favorite food growing up and it always brings back sweet memories. My mom always made the best plum vareniki and this recipe is hers.
Ingredients for Plum Vareniki Dough:
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 Tbsp sour cream
1 cup warm water
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbsp all-purpose, unbleached flour
Ingredients for Plum Vareniki Filling:
1 lb sweet plums, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
How to Make Plum Vareniki:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together 1/3 cup buttermilk, 1/2 Tbsp sour cream, 1 cup warm water, 1 large egg, and 1 tsp salt, just until well blended. Note: you could do all of this by hand, but who would want to?
2. Using the dough hook attachment, add in 2 cups flour and mix on speed 2 until well incorporated.
3. Add in your remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, half a cup at a time, allowing each addition to become well incorporated before adding more. Allow the dough to mix for 15 minutes, then add more flour 1 Tbsp at a time until your dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Continue mixing another 5 minutes. Total mixing time from the time you first add flour is 20-25 min. (You could use this time to learn a new hobby, check your facebook page or be productive and slice your plums ;)). Your dough will be elastic and feel sticky, but won’t stick to your fingers.
4. Cover dough with plastic wrap until ready to use.
5. Cut off about a gum ball of dough at a time and roll into a flat 3-inch circle sprinkling with flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface or the rolling pin.
6. Place two slices of your plum over half of your dough, being careful not to get plum juice on the edges of the dough or it won’t stick together. Pour 1/2 tsp sugar over your plums (use more or less depending on how sweet/tart your fruit is). Bring the two sides together and pinch tightly to seal the edges. Transfer to a well-floured cutting board.
7. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and add 3/4 Tbsp salt. Carefully place finished pierogi in boiling water. Add them in batches (maybe 1/4 at a time). Wait for them to float back too the top and then give them another minute to cook. Pull them out with a slotted spoon and drain well. Drizzle sugar in between layers of cooked pierogi to keep them from sticking to each other. The sugar will melt over the hot pierogies and turn into a light syrup. Serve with sour cream or eat them as is.
Plum Vareniki (Plum Pierogies)
Ingredients
Instructions
- How to Make Plum Vareniki:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together 1/3 cup buttermilk, 1/2 Tbsp sour cream, 1 cup warm water, 1 large egg, and 1 tsp salt, just until well blended.
- Using the dough hook attachement, add in 2 cups flour and mix on speed 2 until well incorporated.
- Add in the rest of your remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour, half a cup at a time, allowing each addition to become well incorporated before adding more. Allow the dough to mix for 15 minutes, then add more flour 1 Tbsp at a time until your dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Continue mixing another 5 minutes. Total mixing time from the time you first add flour is 20-25 min. Your dough will be elastic and feel sticky, but won't stick to your fingers.
- Cover dough with plastic wrap until ready to use.
- Cut off about a gumball of dough at a time and roll into a flat 3-inch circle sprinkling with flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface or the rolling pin.
- Place two slices of your plum over half of your dough, being careful not to get plum juice on the edges of the dough or it won't stick together. Pour 1/2 tsp sugar over your plums (use more or less depending on how sweet/tart your fruit is). Bring the two sides together and pinch tightly to seal the edges. Transfer to a well-floured cutting board.
- Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and add 3/4 Tbsp salt.
- Carefully place finished pierogies in boiling water. Add them in batches (maybe 1/4 at a time). Wait for them to float back too the top and then give them another minute to cook. Pull them out with a slotted spoon and drain well. Drizzle sugar in between layers of cooked pierogies to keep them from sticking to each other. The sugar will melt over the hot pierogies and turn into a light syrup. Serve with sour cream or eat them as is.
What’s YOUR favorite vareniki filling?
i cant wait to try these!!! i do have a question, what would be a good side dish (or main) to make this a complete meal?? Thanks!
Hi Nikole. That’s a great question. We eat them on their own and they are filling enough. We sure them with sour cream, maybe some fresh fruit to go alongside? If you find a great side dish I would love to know about it!
Nikole, we typically have a couple of 3″ pieces of smoked farmers sausage fried lightly or a slab of smokey country Ham refried to obtain the smokey fat for the Cream gravy base.
Hi Natasha! Can I avoid using buttermilk for the dough in the recipe?
Hi Natalia, you might try this recipe with sour cream instead. I hope you love the recipe!
Hi Natasha! Can I use this for pelmeni? I have problems with my pelmeni falling apart while they are cooking. It is really frustrating when you spend so many hours making them. This dough looks really stable and delicious:)
Hi Tamara, yes this dough will work for pelmeni. I hope you love the recipe! I have found that it does help to remove the pelmeni just as soon as the meat is cooked through (about 2 minutes after they float to the surface).
Hi Natasha, how can I send you a recipe & pictures? One time I commented on these Vareniki and told you about the Hungarian version called Gomboc. You asked me to send you the recipe. I have a recipe that was published in a magazine that I could send you along with a picture.
Hello Cathy! If you are on Facebook, I would love it if you joined our private Facebook group where you can share your yummy photos!!
Hello. Thank you for the recipe; I was going to make this for my 87 year old mother, who remembers her grandmother making the cherry version.
Two questions:
1) in the mixing step, you write “Add in the rest of your flour 1/2 cup at a time allowing each addition to become well incorporated before adding more. Allow the dough to mix for 15 minutes, then add more flour 1 Tbsp at a time until your dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.”
Do you mean add the three and a half cups, one half-cup at a a time, mix for 15 minutes, then add the remaining 3 tablespoons? If so, do you add only enough of the 3 tablespoons so it doesn’t stick to the sides anymore?
2) About how thinly do you roll out the dough?
Hi Scott, you will add the remaining flour which is 1 1/2 cups (1/2 cup at a time). I clarified that in the recipe. And yes, add the last 3 Tbsp as needed 🙂 We roll the dough about 1/8″ thick.
Can I freeze them once done, before boiling?
Hi Marianna, yes these can be frozen. Arrange them on a floured cutting board or baking sheet, just so they are not touching, dust them with flour and freeze. Once they are firm, transfer them to a freezer safe ziploc bag and freeze up to 3 months. If you put them in the freezer bag after they are already frozen, they wont stick and you can cook them from frozen (no need to thaw).
Hi! I’m Natasha, just like you 🙂 in many ways. I enjoy cooking, and my grandmother was Ukrainian. I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina and my grandmother made these often, my mom as well, but by the time I got interested in cooking both of them passed away. As I remember, dough recipe was different and we don’t have buttermilk here, so is there something I could use instead of it? I have some guests coming over in two days so I would like to serve them this for dessert. Thanks 🙂
HI Natasa, you might try this recipe with sour cream instead. I hope you love the recipe! 🙂
Hi, my heritage is Romanian/Polish/Ukranian and I’ve eaten perogi all my life. Although I’ve come across a couple of different dough recipes for boiled perogi usually the dough receipe I use is simply 2 C flour, (up to) 1 C water, salt to taste (maybe 1/2 tsp?), and either 1 beaten egg OR 1 sloppy TBSP of oil (son had allergies).
I make a well in the flour, sprinkle in salt, and add not quite the whole 1 C of water (I save and cool the boiled potato water to use AND I add in either the egg or the oil to make up total liquid). With the liquids in the flour well, I beat just until it all comes together and forms a ball (you should be able to rub your hands together and have dough come away cleanly from hands). You’re supposed to cover with a damp towel for about 20 minutes but I’ve rolled out the dought right away and didn’t notice any huge difference.
I quarter the dough and roll out thin enough to see through (about 1/8″). I usuallly use a glass dipped in flour and cut rounds out of the rolled out dough, then fill each round. Good luck and enjoy!
P.S. I also have a receipt for baked perogi with sour cream and baking soda that are served in a dill/garlic sauce – yummy!
I am happy to find your piroshki/vareniki dough recipe. My grandmother, from L’vov (now L’viv and was Lemberg when my grandmother lived there, Austro-Hungary) used to make piroshki both with meat and also potato. She also used to make the plum vareniki and they were the same dough. The plum dumplings were boiled and when I used to bite into them, the hot plum would scald my mouth. The piroshki were baked I think, not fried, or leavened with yeast like so many recipes. Thank you. I will try your recipe. Such a shame that I did not think to get her recipes.
My pleasure! Please let me know what you think of the recipes!
Hi Natasha, i noticed that you used half cup less flour than in your other vareniki dough, is there any reason for that? Which is your prefered? My vareniki seem to take forever to boil no matter how thin i try making them, so im trying to get a different dough recipe. Also could you please share a tvorog nachinka? Thanks so much!:)
Hi Val, I have a few different dough recipes and it’s usually to accommodate for a differing amount of liquid ingredients. The lengthy cooking may be due to rolling the dough out too thick. Try rolling it a little thinner and see if that makes a difference for you. I don’t have a tvorog filling yet but thank you for the idea! 🙂
that’s amazing recipe! In China we make dumpling like that, but we never put plums or any fruit inside. Can we try with cherry?
Hi Tracy, yes absolutely! Cherries are absolutely delicious inside! 🙂
Hi Natasha! The 6th graders I teach read a story about plum vareniki and I told our English teacher I would make some. I’ve made pierogi, vareniki, and pelmeni before (plus Asian dumplings) so I’m not worried, but is there any way to pre-cook these? I will definitely make and freeze, but I’m trying to figure out the logistics of cooking. Thank you!!! I’m so excited to share this with the kids. (My family is Polish and I grew up in a heavily Ukrainian area, then studied Russian in college. But it’s all new for my students.) I’ll share a photo when we do the tasting!
Hi Elizabeth, I have reheated them successfully on a buttered skillet after they were boiled and they get this lovely crust on them that is so good. I think that would be better with a savory vareniki recipe like the potato vareniki (pierogi). Also, be careful with serving the fruit-filled ones – they can get surprisingly hot in the center with the fruit juices and quite messy if the juice spurts. I would stick with the potato ones for that reason also.
Being married to someone with a Polish background (Okinewski), I’ve made goulash & golubki but haven’t tried pierogies. My new boss has a Polish background & happened to mention plum pierogies so I’ll see if I can get early brownie points 🙂
I’d give you a raise! 😉 I love that there are so many similar flavor preferences between Polish and Ukrainian food.
I made these today exactly as described and they were delicious!! I was wondering if I can freeze them before boiling? I would like to make more for later while I have fresh picked plums. Thank you
I think it would work well to freeze them, just dust with flour and place them in the freezer in a single layer then once they are fully frozen, transfer to ziploc bags and return to the freezer.
I wouldn’t advise that. I did this and the dough turned paperlike. Now I boil, cook, freeze in a layer, and then bag.
Hi Pat, I’ve never had that experience. Did you use this dough recipe when that happened? I’ve seen that happen when working with wonton wrappers but this a a pretty sturdy dough for freezing.
This recipe reminded me of my childhood friend Tania and her Mom’s Lekvar Prune Butter filled Varenikis! Those were my favorite. I also enjoyed my Mom’s Potato & Cheese Pierogies.
I love it when a recipe brings great memories from the childhood :).
Hi! One of my roommates was from Russia and we were comparing food. He told me about the pelmeni. A friend of mine called them verenekie (phonetic spelling) and always talked about all the butter. I didn’t know you had fruit versions. My parents are Hungarian and we ate lots of Hungarian food. One of our favourites was very similar – called gomboc. We made dough from left-over mashed potatoes adding an egg and some flour. We filled them with a thick plum jam or now I fill with a pitted prune. We served then with breadcrumbs browned in butter and sugar. Our dumplings looked different too — we cut a square and put fruit in middle and then brough all the corners up and pinched the dough closed. I also made then with a sweeted ricotta filling which was excellent too.
I want to get one of these moulds as it will speed up production – especially if making on my own. Otherwise it’s kind of a fun and relaxing thing to do with friends or family. I will give your recipe a try. Thanks for your post.
Your versions sound amazing!! Would you be able to share your recipes with me? I’d love to try them! My email: natashaskitchen @ yahoo.com (no spaces).
found this recipe a few months ago.
am commenting now!
my Ciocia Genny made plum pierogies all the time.
she had plum trees bordering her back yard.
damson plums and one Italian plum tree.
when they were ripe they were used fresh for pies, pierogies, and on breakfast kasha (buckwheat groats).
she also canned them and made jam.
at Wiglia she made the plum pierogies.
we poured melted butter with cinnamom over them.
such good memories.
your dough recipe is different than the one i use.
so i decided to try your dough recipe to make plum pierogies.
i want to thank you for posting this because they were delightful!!!
this was a great dough recipe.
i also made them with apples and blueberries.
thank you for sharing this!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you so much for sharing that with me and for sharing your food memories 🙂
My absolute favorite too (plums)with butter cream sauce and sugar. I learned to make them to get them more often,
🙂 Aren’t they great? I love how juicy the plums get with cooking.
Oh my Oh my!!! For the filling I used a mix of bluberries and blank current. They where mouth watering kind is good
That combination sounds delicious, thank you for the great review Diana :).
Can I use frozen fruit?
Yes! 🙂 It’s a little more slippery to work with, but it definitely can be done 🙂
My favorite filling was when my mom would make the perogies with potatoes and cheese…..my godmother would make it with plums ….pretty tasty…myself well, unfortunately the family recipes died with my mom so I was so glad to see yours!! My kids and hubby loves them. We used to buy it from the Ukranian Auxilary at their bazaar held at Christmas time. That’s a long way off and since moving five years ago, we haven’t had any since its too far to drive. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
You’re so welcome! I love the potato ones best in butter and paired with sour cream. Yum!
Thank you so much for sharing recipes. This new recipy of pierogies came out delicious, made some with cherries and potatoes with onion. Thanks to ur mom for sharing and thank you for finding time to post all these recipes I Love your website. Everything that I made from your website came out delicious Thank you So Much. God Bless your family!
You’re so sweet! Thank you so much. I’m so blessed by your comment 🙂