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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
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.