Russian Piroshki (pirojki) with apples
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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.
Ingredients for the Russian Piroshki Dough:
1 1/2 Tbsp oil
15 oz luke warm water
4 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (divided)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp sugar (omit sugar if doing meat or potato filling)
Ingredients for Russian Pirozhki 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 tsp sugar in the center of the dough and put 1 heaping Tbsp 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°F) and fry until deep golden brown on each side. They should 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!
Russian Piroshki (pirojki) with apples - Пирожки
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Dough:
- 1 1/2 Tbsp oil
- 15 oz luke warm water
- 4 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Tbsp sugar, omit sugar if doing meat or potato 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.
Instructions
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).
- 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.
- Cut off pieces one at a time about 3/4" thick. 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.
- Put 1/4 tsp sugar in the center of the dough and put 1 heaping Tbsp 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. Flatten the pirojki slightly to make them a more uniform size.
- Heat oil in a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan. There should be enough oil to cover the pirojki half-way up the side.
- Place them in the hot oil (about 330°F) and fry until deep golden brown on each side. They should 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.
Place on paper towels to cool and enjoy!
Notes
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Can i make this dough ahead of time and make everything else a day or so later?
Hi Suzy, the dough is best used the same day it’s made.
Just awful. This dough has no elasticity. Everything fell apart in oil
Hi Polina, I haven’t had that experience but I am happy to help troubleshoot. You might check the measurements to see if enough flour was added and double-check that your yeast is still active. Also, keep in mind if yeast dough is overheated while proofing, you can kill the yeast and the dough will fail. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha,
I love your Piroshki recipes. Do you also have a low-carb version of the baked Piroshki dough?
Thank you
Hi Rozet, I don’t have a low-carb version that I can think of aside from maybe using raw tortillas as we did with our Chebureki.
Hi Natasha,
I have used so many of your recipes since becoming an adopted mom to my Ukrainian/ Russian teens. Have you tried these in an air fryer?
Thank you!
Hi Lisa, I have not tried these in the air fryer to advise on the outcome. If you happen to experiment, I’d love to know how you like that!
I am wondering if the dough for the apple Piroshki is a dough just for deep frying? I am Ukraianian & my mom used to make them but she baked them. And they would come out real gooy and soft. Can you tell me what I can do different.?
Thanks
Delilah
Hi Delilah, this dough is really intended for frying rather than baking. I do have excellent recipes for baked piroshki dough that my readers really love.
Can you use this filling for the buchty that you have? Instead of the cherry.
Hi Nastya, yes that would work fine.
Can this dish be served at room temp/cold or should they be served once cooled from cooking?
Amy, they taste great right after, when still warm. I like them warm best but room temperature is great as well.
Thanks a bunch
Hi Natasha, this recipe is really good. Thank you. I was wondering if you can post a recipe for a dough without the yeast to make piroshki. I have tried to make it in a few different ways, but wanted to know if there is one that is really good. I like all your recipes, so I would definitely try it if you found one. Thank you in advance.
Hi Inna, if I come across something great, I will share it, but my piroshki doughs all are yeast doughs.
Hello Natasha,
I could not find out another way of contacting you, so I did it here.
Have you ever eaten piroshki’s at Piroshki Piroshki in Downtown Seattle?
I am trying to replicate their version of Sweet white chocolate and cherry Piroshok without success. Any advice in terms of recipe for the yeast dough part?
Hi Ira, I haven’t tried it but I do have excellent recipes for piroshki dough (both baked and fried) that my readers really love :).
thank you! it seems that it will yield a lot of dough, can it be frozen and used later ( I mean the dough for the baked piroshki?)
HI Ira, I haven’t tried freezing the dough, but I do think it’s best used the same day it’s made. Also, if you wanted to cut the dough in half, it’s easy to do. I used basically the same dough as for baked piroshki to make my overnight cinnamon rolls and I have the recipe cut in half. That should help you figure it out if you wanted to make half the recipe 🙂
Hey… I was wondering can I make a rylet with this dough recipe?
Hi Julia, this dough is really intended for frying rather than baking. I have several baked pirojki recipes that might work for roulette, however here is the dough I do use for roulette currently.
Hi natasha.. I want to make these but i only have fresh yeast how much do u think i should use ?? Thnx
Hi Angella, I haven’t tried using fresh yeast and generally don’t buy it because of the short shelf life but as a general rule of thumb, with fresh yeast, use 1/3 the amount of active dry yeast. So for this recipe if your yeast is not expired, use 1 tsp of fresh yeast.
Natasha, what do you think about baking them to make these more healthy? Would you change the dough recipe at all?
Also do you by any chance have a good recipe for “rassipnoe testo”? Like dough that’s sweet that you can bake the apples into (from this recipe)? Thanks sooooo much in advance for answering. I have cooked so many of your recipes and many have turned out soooo awesome. :)))
This dough isn’t ideal for baking. It’s really meant for frying. For baked piroshki, my go-to recipe is this one: https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/01/04/baked-piroshki-recipe-2-filling-options-sweet-or-savory/. I’m not sure what you mean by rassipnoe testo. Is it a cake recipe? Can you share a photo or a link to a recipe that uses it?
Hi Natasha,
These look so yummy! I’m from Sao Paulo, Brazil and when I was a child we had an Ukrainian neighbor that taught my grandmother how to make the meat baked pirojkis. Years later and even as my grandmother passed, my family keeps baking pirojkis as if it is our own traditional recipe :)…I’ll start following your site for more recipes.
That’s wonderful that you adopted the recipe into your family! Welcome to my blog and I hope you find many new favorite recipes!
Natasha, is this the same dough for the ponchiks filled with vanilla custard?
I’d love to say yes, but I haven’t tried those so it’s hard to say yes. 🙂 Is there a specific recipe you are referring to online?
Hi, Natasha!
They look like this….
http://mypersiankitchen.com/persian-pirashki/
The dough does look very similar. Those look like heaven!
can i use strawberry instead of apple filling?
I haven’t experimented with strawberries, but apples are more firm and hold their texture without getting too mushy.
If one does not have a bread maker, then how would we proceed with the first few steps???
You can do the same steps in a KitchenAid mixer; You’d follow the same process as the bread maker would. Using a dough hook, knead the dough until it forms nicely then let dough rise in a warm place covered with plastic wrap until doubled in volume, mix again and let the dough rise untouched until 2 1/2 to 3 times in volume (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours) in a warm place, covered with plastic wrap. I hope that makes sense 🙂
My goodness, or should I say my ” FOODNESS” lol…fantastic recipe.. We call it piroshki…ponchiki are the donuts…I tried your baked piroshki too today, and they are beyond words….fantastic!!! Thank you!!!
You are welcome Maria and thank you for a good review :).
Natasha, your recipes are all wonderful and it is so nice to have them available!!! Thank you for all the hard work! 🙂
You’re so very welcome. Thank you for your sweet comment 🙂
I just made piroshki. They turned out soooo good. I made them with kapusta (sauerkraut). Now just have to exercise self and portion control as with any of the ukrainian food. Its hard not to eat too much of it. 😉
I totally understand where you are coming from Veranika :).
Hi!! These pirojki look amazing, gotta get a bread maker from my mother!! Do you have any Sharlotka recipe? its a russian cake made with apples!
I’ve tried a couple of times and the recipes I used didn’t turn out the way I had hoped. It’s still a work in progress. Do you happen to have an awesome one? 🙂
I have a very good “sharlotka”recipe. Its also called apple short cake.
3 or 4 big apples peeled and diced
6 eggs
1 cup sifted flour
1 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the glass baking dish.
Beat eggs with sugar on high speed until white peeks are formed.
Gradually fold in sifted flour.
Spread the diced apples even in the dish.(be generous, the more, the better in this case)
Pour the batter over the apples.
Bake about 45 min until golden.
I like to put it to broil for about 3 min at the end to get the
beautiful crispy top.
Happy cooking 😉
I’ve been looking for a good one! Thank you so much! What kind of apples did you use? How big was your baking dish? Do you just dust the top with powdered sugar? Can’t wait to try this out! Thanks a gazillion!! 🙂
You can use any kind of apples. Even the ones that are on the softer side, and nobody wants to eat them any more, would taste amazing when baked. I use the same baking dish that I would use for lasagna, I believe its 9×13
If you’re to serve sharlotka hot don’t put the powdered sugar on the top it will melt and ruin the crusty top . If you going to serve it cold, yes powdered sugar is perfect, sprinkle right before serving, not ahead of time cause it melts in a refrigerator too. Try it, you’ll love it.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Natasha,
How long did it take you to learn to make these perfectly?
I love how they taste but i keep messing up! 😀
Which part are you struggling with? Filling them? sealing? Making the dough?
oh my goodness…. eating my second one. so good!!!! i made them with blueberries. yummers. thank you! cant wait for my hubby to try these 🙂 you make me look like a great cook!lol
You are welcome Olga, you just made me crave some :).
Natasha, thank you SO MUCH!!! I was always intimidated by dough made with yeast. I just finished making my first pirogki. They are almost like these “15 kopeek” ones, even better! I don’t own a bread machine, so knelled in my KitchenAid mixer, then proofed 2 times 2.5 hours total, then fried on medium. I have 2 hints to share: try to use a little oil instead of flour while forming pirogki; start closing pirogok center first then work toward both ends. Did I say I LOVE your blog?
Thanks for sharing your tip; I’ll try that next time. So glad you conquered your dough fears 😉
Your welcome. Enjoy
Hi Natasha,
I have really good recipe for baking piroshki. Its my husbands and kids favorite I make them almost every weekend.
I make dough in bread maker.
2 cups warm milk
1.5 tbsp butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 tsp salt
5 cups all-purpose flour
After You add flour when it starts mixing you have check and make sure the dough is not too soft if its soft You can add more flour.
For the apple filling I cook and drain some of the juice if You don’t do that when You bake them it will be BIG mess all apple juice will be all over piroshki.
Brush the top with egg.
Before placing them in oven let them rise (let stand for at least 30 mins).
Wow I just printed your recipe. Thank you so much for sharing. I love that you make them in the bread maker. Sounds really convenient and not too complicated. Thank you!!
Just wanted to add my two cents. I don’t own a bread maker or standing mixer and this is how I do it. I soak yeast in a bit or lukewarm milk( i don’t think using either milk or water makes a big difference) and a tsp of sugar. I do it till it forms a foam on top of the milk, this way it ensures it will work well. I mix liquid ingridients into the dry ones in a big glass salad bowl and knit it down just like a bread dough. I smudge the bowl with more oil so the dough doesn’t stick when rises to the bowl. Btw you can also use olive or any vegetable oil instead of flour when you shape pirojki so the dough won’t stick, just be carefull not to get any oil on the inside, or they won’t stick. I put the plug in a sink, then fill it with hot water so it comes to about half or more to the sides of the bowl. Then I put the cover on the bowl and cover the sink with big towel and thats it. Let it sit for about an hour , then knit it down and repeat. I add boiling cattle to ensure the water stays nice and warm throthought the rising process . Generally you can let the dough rise two or three times. I think the more you let it rise the more airy the dough will be.
You can bake or fry pirojki, but personally the apple ones way better fried then baked. I think they more juicy and tastier the “bad” way, same goes for meat. The cabbage and mash potatoes and fried onions fillings are good both ways.
Thank you for sharing Svetlana. I love the tip about using the hot water in the sink to let the dough rise, this speeds up the process :).
can you use canadian flour instead of all purpose flour? thanks
I haven’t tested it, but it should work fine.
I am about to try cooking these for my family as I have just started learning Russian and decided to cook a Russian meal for my family and was wondering if you were supposed to coat them with sugar or anything else after frying them.
It’s not necessary to coat them with anything 🙂
I am looking for a baked version of an apple filled piroshki. One more bit to the request, I am looking for a piroshki dough resipe (for the baked version) that is gluten free. Yes, a tricky request perhaps but my daughter is rather ill, must avoid all gluten, but loved piroshki, sigh. Any ideas or pointers would be terrific.
Oh that is a tough question. I haven’t experimented with a gluten free version so I don’t have a good answer for you, but I’ll toss it around in my head and will let you know if I come up with anything.
Thanks. I was also wondering if adding raisins to the apple filling was all that common?
I’ve never had them that way so I’m not sure how common it is. If you try it with raisins, let me know what you think.
Raisins soaked for a few hours in a mix of vanilla extract and hot water adds a delicious full flavor. I also added almonds lightly toasted with a pad of butter and some granular sugar. These are so good.
Oh yumm!! Wow that sounds like an amazing mixture!
Hi Danielle, I know you asked this question a loooong time ago haha, but I decided to respond just in case it will help, because sometimes this information can be hard to find. I’ve done a lot of experimenting with gluten free stuff, and have found that the best equivalent to regular flour is a high quality gluten free oat flour + xanthan gum. The xanthan gum helps to duplicate what the gluten would normally do in a recipe so that you get the right texture in most baked goods. You can find it online if you can’t find it in stores. Some health food stores carry it. You want to use about 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum for 1 cup of gluten free flour. This works for most recipes. Unfortunately, without gluten, most yeast dough recipes will not rise without another leavening agent, so you might have to do some more research on that. Hopefully this will help in your experimenting. It’s really really hard to suddenly change your diet and not be able to eat beloved foods, but with a bit of diligence, equivalent recipes can be found/invented! 😀 I wish you and your daughter all the best.
Hi 🙂
Do you by any chance know how to make bulochki?
Hi Tanya,
Please describe the kind of bulochki you are looking for. I might call them something else. You know how Russian food goes; i.e. blinchiki, oladi, etc.. 🙂
Is it ok if I will be using warm milk instead of warm water?
I haven’t tried it with milk so I’m not sure how it would change the recipe. Sorry that’s not much help. If you do try it, let me know how it works out. I’m very curious now!
I come back with the result! Hihi…, it’s ok to use milk. Nothing’s went wrong. Because I didn’t want to waste if went wrong, so I divide by 4 ur recipe, I got 6 of Piroshki, and I wanted for morrreee! 😀 Absolutely recommended recipe! Yummy! Thanks again Natasha, you’re the best! 🙂
Good to know! I’ll try it next time!! Thank you so much!
I didn’t realize your were on Twitter! Looking forward to following your tweets!
So I tried baking these piroshki and it turned out very well. I did the recipe without the sugar and had meat inside it. 350* for 30 min (until they were golden brown). Hope it helps!
What kind of food processor do you have? I’m in the market for one, but there’s so many different kinds and they range from $40-$100, not sure which is the best…
I received mine as a wedding gift and it’s the cuisinart that comes with one base that can either be used with a blender or a food processor. They are sold at Costco. If you bake and cook alot, I’d go with the larger cuisinart food processor. Mine seems a little small for some jobs, but I still use it and will probably continue doing so until it breaks! The big ones are kind of spendy though: Cuisinart DLC-2009CHB Prep 9 9-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Stainless
“>Cuisinart DLC-2009CHB Prep 9 9-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Stainless. Here’s the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-BFP-603-SmartPower-Blender-Processor/dp/B003JV63WQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1326996670&sr=1-1 except mine is in white. Hope that helps 🙂
I am trying my mom’s recipe right now. I will find out how it goes and i will take some pictures of the product itself. it is in the oven baking (Apple filled piroshki’s ) 🙂
I will let you know how the result is, since i heard you are looking for a good baked piroshki recipe.
-vlad
That’s wonderful; thank you! I hope they turn out great :-)!!! Please let me know.
Hi natasha, its been a really long time. I just want to let you know, the recipe did not turn out as great as i had hoped.. the piroshkis turned out very hard, i think it was in the way i prepared it. because whenever my mom made them they were always soft. I will continue to try and update you if anything changes.
Really? I’ve made this countless times with all kinds of fillings and they’ve always been super soft. Did you do something different from the instructions?
The best flour to use, i;ve learnd is King Arthur all purpose flour (red/white pack) which they only sell at publix 🙂 just a tip.
Love your site. It is so nice to see pride in old country recipes and to have a record of them.
It’s been a long time since I have had apple pirohy. My Mom used to make hers with a yeast dough,a bit of sugar and the shredded apple, but she baked them. When they were removed from the oven she would spoon a syrup over them. The syrup was (I think) just sugar and water that had been heated. I have tried unsuccessfully to find her recipe and she can no longer remember how to make them.
Hi Lenora, Unfortunately I don’t have a good recipe for baked pirohy 🙁 If you find one, please let me know.
Hi Natasha!
My name is Mark from Brooklyn, NY…near Brighton Beach, which is known as “Little Odessa”..My family was born in southern Ukraine and I am first generation American. Thank you for this wonderful and resourceful website that is helping me reconnect to my childhood all over again. I have just one quick question with this and other dough recipes you make. Since I’m using a stand mixer, how long should I mix the dough for and how long should it rest? Do you let the dough rest twice? Thanks for any help you can provide and keep up the great work on this site!
I’ve never timed it that way before so I can’t give you very accurate time frames (and it’s been a long time since I’ve tried that route) I find that the breadmaker is easiest and seems to have the best results. I’ll try the mixer method next time and will try to give you more exact instructions.
Privet,
If I am doing the dough hook option, do I add the ingredients for the dough in the same order as the bread maker?
Yes 🙂
Thank You, Natasha!!! I’ve been looking for this recipe for a very long time. My baba also used to make them when I was a kid, but I remember the filling was made with beef liver and onions and thyme, they were delicious. She also used to fry them. I wish I could remember what else she added to that filling. I will try them soon!!!
You’re very welcome. I love hearing stories like that. It’s part of the reason I’m making this site, so my children and grandchildren will have a resource to make what “baba” used to make. And it has loads of my mom’s and my husbands mom’s recipes. 🙂 Thank you for your comment Wilma!
So I made piroshki and they are not complicated :)) I guess I used to think that they were because I would watch my grandma when i was younger make the dough and it looked like so much work. But you have definitely inspired me 🙂
Can you use veg. oil?
That should be fine. Any oil that doesn’t burn easily.
OMG!! I’ve been looking for this recipe. TY so much for posting it. My baba used to make these when I was a kid. Except she would grate the apples instead. How many does this recipe make?
Hi Stephanie, You’re welcome! I hope they taste the way you remember them. It makes 15-20 pirojki.
What kind of flour do u use?:)
All-purpose flour
these are yummy!!
The recipe doesn’t have the OVEN TEMPERATURE AND HOW LONG? I bake it with 250F and it takes 2 hours to bake and hard like stone. It doesn’t taste good!
I never tried baking them. I fry them in hot oil (steps 6 & 7) in the recipe.
he thank you so much for the recipe, if you have a recipe for holodets, or cabage with rice, please send it to my email, “marinaleksandrovna@yahoo.com
Hi, Marina
I do have a recipe for holodets & cabage with rice ( if it is what i think it is). Your e-mail is 1 year old. let me know if you get it from some one else.
These look good (we call them ponchiki–piroshki are the ones baked in the oven)–never tried them with apple, but I love them with jam or meat or mashed peas. I’ve never made these, so I’ll have to try this recipe. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
We always called these piroshki growing up. I thought ponchiki were more like doughnuts.
do you have a recipe for baked piroshki with mashed peas? I haven’t tasted one in 60 years.
I don’t. I’m sorry. I only make the fried ones but ill definitely post it if I can get my hands on a good recipe