Want to enjoy gluten free perogies that no one will even know are gluten free? Of course! This dough makes the best gluten free perogies (pierogi), what you choose to fill them with is up to you. They taste just like the ones Grandma used to make.
Food is emotional.
The sight, smells, texture and taste all help to connect you with memories. It can be good memories, or bad memories, but it has the ability to bring up those memories in a way that is stronger than any other.
That is what happened to me as I was making these gluten free perogies (or gluten free pierogi) for my family last night. I had prepared the filling – just like my Grandma used to do – a simple mashed potato, fried onion and cheddar mixture with a little salt and pepper. We never measure, just mix it up and taste to make sure the seasonings are right.
I had prepared the dough. I slightly altered a recipe I’d used before from the popular Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog.
But when I began to prepare the perogies themselves, it hit me. Memories. My Grandma would invite us over for supper, and as soon as you were out of the car you could detect the aroma of fried onions in the air. Getting closer, you could see the steam collecting on the inside of the kitchen window, a sign that my Grandma had been hard at work and had a large pot of water boiling, ready to cook the perogies she had spent the better part of the day preparing.
I would sit to the left of my Grandpa, and we would both eagerly await the steaming hot perogies that Grandma had made. And when they arrived – we ate. We over ate. We stuffed ourselves silly with those things. It was good food, and it was love. Now, it is beautiful memories for me.
Preparing those gf perogies for my family, the way my Grandma had taught me years ago, a lump all of the sudden rose in my throat, and tears set in my eyes. I miss those days, and I miss my Grandpa, who passed away nearly 8 years ago.
Memories. For dinner last night we had memories. And they were great.
Tips to form the perfect gluten free Perogies:
- Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap, and fold the plastic wrap over the dough. This will help you to roll the dough really thin, without having to worry about it sticking. You also won’t need to add a lot of extra flour to prevent sticking, which will make more tender perogies.
- Wet the edges of the dough before closing your perogies, and be sure to form your pinky fingers along the filling, pushing out any air that might be trapped. This will prevent the perogies from floating and breaking open when you cook them.
- Use the plastic wrap to lift the dough over the filling, you should have no problems with your dough breaking open while trying to seal them.
- Use a cup or container with a thin edge to get a nice, clean rounded edge to your gluten free perogies. This will make each of them uniform, which looks really nice.
Gluten Free Perogies ~ Just Like Grandma's
Yield: 1 dozen perogies
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Recipe is slightly adapted from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. This dough can also be used to be Keilke (noodles). This recipe can be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled to make more perogies without a problem. I quadrupled it and made 50 good sized perogies.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cream-style cottage cheese (you can use sour cream, but start with less, about 1/3 cup)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 tablespoons potato starch
- 2 tablespoons sweet rice flour
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Filling of your choice
- A little bit of brown rice flour for sprinkling on the plastic wrap.
Instructions
- Place the cottage cheese, egg, milk, and oil in a blender and mix until completely smooth.
- Place all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Run the mixer to combine the dry ingredients. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the wet ingredients until the dough has come together, is not too dry, but is not too sticky.
- Roll a piece of dough, about the size of a golf ball, into a ball, and place it on a sheet of plastic wrap.
- Fold the plastic wrap over the dough, and roll the dough out into a oval shape, as thin as you can without it being transparent (about 1/16" thick).
- Remove the top layer of plastic wrap, and spoon the filling onto one half of the oval of dough.
- Dip your fingers in water (or use a pastry brush) to wet the outside edge of the dough around filling. This will help the dough to stick, giving you a good seal.
- Use the plastic wrap to lift the other half of the oval over the filling, making sure it reaches to the area you applied the water to.
- Using the outside of your hand, press the dough together, being sure to start at the filling and working out so that you don't trap any air in the dough.
- Remove the plastic wrap, and place a small bowl with a sharp edge over the perogy, cutting the edge of the dough into a nice semi-circle.
- Double check that the seam is sealed, and place perogy on a baking pan lined with a lint-free cloth. Once the pan is full, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- Repeat until you've used all the dough.
- At this point, the perogies could be frozen for another time. Just place in the freezer, and then store in zipper-seal bags once they are frozen.
- By rolling the dough for each perogy out separately, you don't have to deal with a large piece of dough, and a lot of scraps. The small pieces that you cut off of the edge during sealing can be kneaded together and re-used, giving you nearly no waste. This is the technique my Grandma taught me, I think it's genius.
- To cook the perogies, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Boil only a few perogies at a time, or the temperature of your water will drop too much. The perogies will sink when you put them in the water, gently stir them to make sure they are not sticking on the bottom of the pot or to each other. Let the water come to a full boil again. The perogies are done when they are floating. I usually let them boil for another minute or so after they begin floating, but you don't want to over cook them either.
- Carefully remove perogies from the boiling water with a slotted spoon, placing them on a parchment lined baking sheet that has also been lightly greased. Be sure they are not touching each other, or they will stick. You can either drizzle them with melted butter, or spray them with a little cooking spray to keep them from sticking to each other.
- If you wish, you can fry them at this point, and serve fried perogies. We always eat them at this stage, and fry the leftovers.
Notes
- Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap, and fold the plastic wrap over the dough. This will help you to roll the dough really thin, without having to worry about it sticking. You also won't need to add a lot of extra flour to prevent sticking, which will make more tender perogies.
- Wet the edges of the dough before closing your perogies, and be sure to form your pinky fingers along the filling, pushing out any air that might be trapped. This will prevent the perogies from floating and breaking open when you cook them.
- Use the plastic wrap to lift the dough over the filling, you should have no problems with your dough breaking open while trying to seal them.
- Use a cup or container with a thin edge to get a nice, clean rounded edge to your gluten free perogies. This will make each of them uniform, which looks really nice.
There are endless filling options. You can make them sweet, savoury, filled with cottage cheese, or in season berries. The possibilities are endless.
SUBSTITUTIONS: The recipe was prepared, and a huge success, as written. I am unable to make the dough using every possible substitution available, so I am not able to advise on what changes would make this recipe a success. Feel free to experiment, and if something works for you (or doesn’t), please come back and comment so that others can learn from your experience. Thank you!
Looking for more gluten free Mennonite foods? How about:
- Gluten Free Easter Bread (Paska)
- Gluten Free Portzekly (New Year’s Cookies)
- Gluten Free Rollkuchen
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The images were updated in February 2018.
