Amish Dumplings

Savory dumpling recipes for dinner or dessert

Amish Dumplings RecipesDumplings are that odd food item that can be both a dessert and part of a main course.  Dumplings appear in food traditions from around the world, figuring in the cuisine of countries as diverse as Korea, Germany, and South Africa.  You’ll find both “sweet” and “salty” types of dumpling recipes in the recipes below, taken from the Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish traditions.

Amish and PA Dutch Dumplings

 
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POTATO DUMPLINGS

  • 6 raw potatoes
  • 10 sliced bread
  • 1 onion, grated
  • 2 eggs, well beaten
  • 1 teaspoon minced parsley
  • Salt and pepper

Grate the potatoes. Soak bread in cold water, remove, and then squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Mix together the bread, parsley, grated onion, salt, and pepper.  Add the grated potatoes and eggs, and mix thoroughly. Shape dough into balls, roll in flour gently, and drop into boiling water (salted).  Cook dumplings for 15 minutes in a covered pot. These dumplings go great stewed chicken or meat and sauerkraut. (adapted from Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book of Fine Old Recipes)

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LIVER DUMPLINGS

  • 1 1/2 pounds liver
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon butter or other shortening
  • 2 quarts bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs, well beaten
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • Salt and pepper

Pout the liver through a meat chopper. Fry the onion in the shortening along with the bread crumbs. Combine the liver and the eggs together, and mix well. Add onion and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to your preference. Stir in enough flour (if needed, use more than the 1/2 cup to make a batter stiff).  Tablespoon into a kettle of hot broth or soup.  Cover kettle tightly and cook for half an hour. Shake pan frequently to prevent sticking. (adapted from Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book of Fine Old Recipes)

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SIMPLE DUMPLINGS

Dumplings are known by the German term “Spaetzle”.

  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. salt

Add milk to flour slowly.  Stir constantly while adding to keep the mixture smooth. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Salt and mix well. When cooking in boiling salted water or meat broth, pour the batter from a shallow bowl, tilting it over the boiling kettle. Using a sharp knife, slice off pieces of the batter into the boiling liquid. Dip knife in the liquid before each cut to prevent sticking.

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APPLE DUMPLINGS

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons basking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons shortening
  • 1/2 cup cold milk
  • 6 apples (pared and cored)

Pare and core apples, and fill them with sugar and cinnamon. Sift flour, baking powder and salt; cut in shortening, add milk and mix to smooth dough. Turn onto a floured board and then divide into six portions. Roll each portion to a size large enough to cover one apple. Place an apple on each piece of dough.  Fill with cinnamon and sugar.  Wet edges of dough and fold over apple. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake for about 40 min (until apples are tender) at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. (adapted from Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book of Fine Old Recipes)

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SPICY APPLE DUMPLINGS

  • rich baking powder
  • biscuit dough
  • 6 apples, medium size
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Prepare biscuit dough, and roll to a thickness of a ¼ inch.  Cut into squares. Pare and core apples.  Place one cored apple in the center of each square. Fill each with a portion of the seasonings, sugar, raisins and then dot with butter. Bring corners of the dough to the top of the apples.  Seal by pricking with a fork. Bake for half an hour at 375 degrees F. Serve with milk or cream.

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PEACH DUMPLINGS

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup milk or cream
  • 2 cups sliced peaches
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups hot water

Make a syrup of the sugar using the butter and 2 cups of hot water. Add in the peaches and bring this to a boil. Make dumplings by mixing flour, salt, and baking powder into a fairly stiff batter with milk or cream. Drop large spoonfuls of this batter into the boiling syrup/peaches mixture. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove and serve hot.

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Apple dumplings: Laura Smith/flickr
Unless otherwise noted, recipes adapted from Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking.

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    One Comment

    1. Julia Snyder

      speatzle

      In Pa dutch cooking spaetzle is actually called rivels they are small like speatzle. Dumplings are much bigger and fluffier very good served with pork and sauerkraut cooked in sauerkraut juice. I am from pa and my family are not amish but we are pa dutch heritage.