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Forgot my mom's pierogi recipe, took 3 tries to get it right
I called her last month for the dough measurements and she rattled them off like it was nothing, but I still messed up the first batch (too sticky) and the second (too dry). The third try finally matched that soft, slightly chewy texture I remember from her kitchen in Pittsburgh. It took me about 6 hours total across a weekend, which felt crazy for something she does in 45 minutes. Anyone else have a family recipe that took way too many attempts to nail down, and what finally clicked for you?
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karenhenderson24d ago
Did you weigh the flour or just scoop it with a cup? That was my big mistake with my grandma's nut roll dough, scooping packs the flour down so you end up with way more than the recipe wants, and I fought that dough for two weekends before figuring it out. Now I fluff the flour with a fork, spoon it into the cup, and level it off, and the dough comes out right every time. Also worth checking if your mom's recipe was written when flour was milled differently, like beth said, because that really does change how much water you need.
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beth_ward8024d ago
Tbh the flour is usually the problem with pierogi dough. All purpose flour from the store today soaks up water differently than it did 30 years ago, so your mom's measurements might be right but the dough still feels wrong. Next time add the liquid a little at a time and stop when the dough just barely stops sticking to your hands, even if that means you don't use all of it. The other thing that helped me was letting it rest covered for 20 minutes before rolling, it relaxes the gluten and you get that soft chew way easier. Honestly 6 hours for a first real attempt from scratch is not bad at all, your mom just has decades of muscle memory doing the work for her.
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