Germknödel

Germknödel are a classic Austrian and German sweet dumpling that is filled with plum butter, topped with melted butter or vanille soße, and a mixture of poppyseeds and powdered sugar.

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Proofing time1

Total Time1 50

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Dessert

Cuisine: German

Keyword: knödel, pflaumenmus, Plum butter

Servings:

Calories: 420kcal

Equipment

Stand Mixer

Ingredients

Dough

300 grams all purpose flour
30 grams granulated sugar
8 grams active dry yeast
125 milliliters milk lukewarm
25 grams butter softened
1 egg room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

150 grams plum jam (plum butter)

Topping

80 grams butter melted, or Vanille Soße
50 grams poppyseeds ground
30 grams powdered sugar

Shop Ingredients on Jupiter

Instructions

Make the Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the flour and sugar together.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast and warmed milk.
Stir the milk and yeast together, incorporating a little of the flour and sugar into the milk and yeast mixture.
Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside for ten minutes.
After the ten minutes have passed, give everything in the bowl a quick stir.
Add in the remaining dough ingredients and knead on medium low speed with the dough hook attachment.
Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth and the sides of the bowl are clean.
Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel.
Set somewhere warm for 30- 45 minutes until the dough has doubled in size.

Shape

Once the dough has doubled in size briefly knead it by hand or with the mixer to knock any air out.
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions.
As you go, shape each portion into a ball by first flattening it slightly into a disk and then tucking all the edges of the disk under.
Shape your hand into a claw over the ball of dough with the smooth side face up. Roll the ball around in your hand on a clean work surface to create tension on the dough and seal the seem on the bottom of the ball.
Leave the balls to sit, covered, for about 5 minutes before moving on to the next step.
Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll the portion of dough into a disk that is approximately 4"-5" in diameter.
Roll out the edges (about 1/2" all around) so that they are paper thin and the center is still thick.
Place 1-2 tablespoons of plum butter in the center of the disk and then bring two opposite sides of dough together over the jam and pinch together.
Then bring the remaining dough together into the center to seal the jam into the dumpling.
Place the shaped knödel seam side down on a well floured baking sheet. Shape the remaining portions of dough.
Then, cover with a towel and set aside to proof for 30 minutes or until puffy and about 1.5 times bigger.

Steam the Germknödel

Set up a steamer pot and line the steamer with a thin kitchen towel or cheesecloth.
If you don't have a steamer, add an 1" of water into a pot and place a sieve over top, lined with a cheesecloth. Bring the water to a slight simmer.
Once the water is steaming, place one or two of the proofed germknödel in the steamer depending on the size. Be aware that they will grow to at least twice the size so be sure to leave enough space in the steamer.
Cover with a lid and leave to steam for 25 minutes.
While they finish cooking, grind the poppyseeds and mix with the powdered sugar.
Melt the butter or make the Vanille Soße to pour over the knödel.
Once they are finished cooking, use a spoon and your hands to *carefully remove the knödel. Place one onto each plate/bowl.
Serve with the vanilla sauce and then dust with the poppyseeds and powdered sugar. Enjoy the first batch while you cook the next ones.
Repeat the cooking steps, until all of the knödel are cooked.

Notes

The dough can take a while to knead but it is important that you knead it until smooth so that the dumplings have enough structure when steamed. While it can be tempting, don't overfill the dumplings with plum jam - it will easily burst out when shaping or steaming if you do!

I recommend eating these immediately after cooking which is why the recipe makes a relatively small batch of six!

Tips

When making yeasted dough, ensure that you allow your mixer to fully knead the dough. This is a relatively soft dough so it may not be fully smooth but it should clean the sides of the bowl.

When shaping the germknödel, I have found it helpful to leave the center of disk of dough thicker than the edges. This will help keep the plum butter in the center of the knödel because when you gather all of the edges of dough around the plum they will create extra thickness.

Don't let the germknödel overproof. It's better with these to slightly underproof them because if they expand too much before cooking, they won't rise properly while steaming.

Prepare the melted butter and poppyseed and powdered sugar mixtures while the germknödel cook so you can top the steamed dumplings immediately when they are finished cooking.

Nutrition