Bread Dumplings – Houskový knedlík

IMG_6214

Ingredients:

Makes: 3 dumplings (each approximately 3.5″ x 8″)
Prep: 20 min
Kneed: 5 min
Rise: 2 hrs
Hands On: 3 min
Second Rise: 10 min
Cook: 1 hr 5 min
Total: 3 hrs 43 min

1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast
3 2/3 cup of wondra flour (you need to buy at least two Wondra flour containers if you purchased the 13.5 oz size container) or similar coarse flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 cups cubed dried bread

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59 comments
  1. I have not made these yet but did find Wondra so will soon. Have tried for years but failed with American flour. Used to be able to get frozen ones at a small local store which is no longer in business. I am American but spent 1972 in Brno and loved all the dumplings and breads. Ahoy.

    1. How cool! I am from Brno. 🙂

      1. Today we are snowed and frozen in (a foot of snow and -12 degrees) so I made the knedliky. They were very good. I need to tweet them a bit, I used a little too much flour and my bread cubes crumbled when I kneaded them in (because I had used toasted bread not stale Italian style bread). But they did not fall apart and were close to what I remembered. My husband is in heaven. Now I will have to make them for the whole family. My daughter who was two when were there will be thrilled.
        Kristyna, I have an old (1969) cookbook in Czech. I will send it to you it you would like it. Ceska Kucharka. Add the hacek my keyboard doesn’t have. It was given to me by my husbands professor’s wife when we were in Brno. There was a time when I could read a bit and my husband could translate the rest, but that time is gone. Skoda. Email me your address if you would like it. Sherie

        1. Wow, that is really cold. I hope the dumplings will be better next time. They are not easy to make. I sometimes use toasted bread too, but I made sure the bread is really toasted and works fine. But the hard bread is much better. I am glad your family is enjoying the dumplings.
          That is so sweet of you to offer to send me that cookbook. I would really like it. I love those old Czech cookbooks and don’t have any, so this will be great to have. I will email you my address. Thank you again! Very thoughtful.

          1. I have a cookbook by Mrs.Sandtnerova with very good old Czech recipes.This edition is printed in Montreal in 1952 by International Book Service.The title is Sandtnerova kuchařka first edition printed in Prague in 1924. It contains hundreds of recipes. You are welcome to any of them.

          2. Wow! How amazing! I actually don’t have this cookbook, but I definitely heard of it. I am collecting Czech cookbooks and had some wonderful viewers send them to me, which I am always so thankful for. 🙂

      2. I am from Bratislava of Czech parentage and live in Brisbane, Australia

        1. Many greetings to Australia!

  2. Kristyna, I’ve enjoyed viewing your preparation of these wonderful Czech foods. I, too, have a very old Czech cookbook I inherited years ago. It was a compilation of recipes from Czech ladies in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois from the 1920’s. I grew up in Berwyn which was largely a Czech community. I worked at a marvelous Czech bakery when I was a teenager and the lines of people would be out the door. Thank you for the demos of your recipes–very helpful.

    Gayle Dawson (my grandmother was born in Bohemia in the 1880’s but I haven’t been able to locate the area. Her maiden name was Budil).

    1. Wow, what a treasure to have such a cookbook. Your story is amazing. I wish you could locate the area of your grandmother. Maybe you still have some relatives in Czech. Her maiden name would be Budilova since she is a woman. Budil is for a man. Maybe that helps a little bit. 😉 I am glad you are enjoying my videos.

      1. Budil is a past tense of the verb budit. It means to wake (someone). A lot of Czech names are of that type such as Vyskocil, Zapletal, Coufal and so on.
        Anyway, Czechs are dumpling mad, most popular is Veprova, knedlik a zeli (pork, dumpling and sourkraut)

    2. Hi, I also grew up in Cicero (went to church in Berwyn). I have fond memories of watching my grandmother make these delcious bread dumplings what a treat they were.. Even eating at Old Prague and Klaas when I was kids used to order extra dumplings.. remember their liver dumpling soup?

      I am so glad to have found this yeast recipe as this is the true czech dumpling, the baking powder is the easier recipe but these come out much better. I also use fresh Rye Bread (used to love Fingerhuts Babbi’s Rye) bread cubes in my dumplings. Also there are no instructions here, but I remember that once it was in the pot mom and my Babbi said to never lift the lid. Watch for the bubbles around the lid an then you will know when its done!

    3. Gayle, Did you work at Fingerhut Bakery?

      To Czech Cookbook: thank you so much for translating this wonderful recipes. Can’t find what happened to it but my mom used to have a super czech cookbook it was a blue hard cover book, can’t find it for the life of me. Thanks for posting your recipes. I will look for goulosh and if you have a recipe for Kolache with poppyseed (my favorite) I’d love to have it!

      1. Hi Bonnie, Oh I hope you will be able to find that cookbook. It is a treasure. Here is the recipe for goulash: http://www.czechcookbook.com/beef-goulash-hovezi-gulas/ and for kolache http://www.czechcookbook.com/kolache-recipe-kolace/. I hope you enjoy both. 🙂

  3. What temperature is your milk? Last ‘ve the videos. Marilyn

    1. I am not sure what exact temperature, but it has to be only warm not hot. I usually put my clean finger in to test it.

  4. hello, i wanted to ask what can i use in place of wondra, I live in Finland and i tried to find it in markets but couldn’t`t. I have tried gulash with damplings in Prague and was looking for the recipes long time, and finally found, btw the gulash is amazing 🙂

    1. Hi Tina, I looked it up and found this helpful article. http://www.dlc.fi/~marian1/gourmet/i_flours.htm The flour that looks like it will work is Wheat flour, coarse. Please let me know if you try it. Another thing some other coarse flours could be heavier than Wondra so I would start with putting less flour and add as needed. I hope they turn out great. 🙂

    2. Hello Tina and Kristyna,
      I know it’s been a while since this post but still wanted to add that my czech mother in Sweden used Idealmjöl for knedliky. As I have understood through the years, it’s all about the flour. Composition and how it’s ground. I have made ovocné knedliky (with fruit in it) once. Instead of turning out as lovely as my Brno- aunt Marcelas (who gave me the recipe) they were more like hand granades.. Haven’t tried it since but now the kids are making demands. Time to step up.
      From Göteborg, Sweden //Lucy

      1. Hello Lucy, Did yo try Idealmjol flour? I hope next time they will be fluffy. 🙂

  5. Hi, I wonder how much is the cup you´re using for the bread dumplings ?
    Thank you for the videos. Anna

    1. Hi Anna, on my website I have conversion chart. Here is the link. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. 🙂 http://www.czechcookbook.com/conversion-chart/

  6. ahoj krystina, can i make the bread dumplings in the breadmaker? on the dough setting? do i add the bread at the start? thank you so much for your website and best wishes for the future. Iva

    1. Hi Iva, thank you. 🙂 Yes you can do it in the breadmaker. Sometimes I make a dumpling dough in there and it works great. I have not yet tried to make bread dumplings in there, just regular, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I would try to put the bread in at the beginning. I always keep an eye on it, if it needs more flour or if it is too thick and needs more water. If you try it please let me know how they turned out. 🙂

  7. I made these with Segedinský Guláš and your recipe for Hovězí Guláš. Sooo good! Thank you!

    1. So glad to hear! 🙂

  8. Do you have a gravy recipe for the dumplings? I think my Mother used to make a white gravy. Would love any gravy recipes you have. Thank you!

  9. I’m from Singapore and tried your recipe – awesome and simple to make. Yummy!!

    1. I am glad to hear! Many greetings to Singapore! 🙂

  10. Dokonalost Kristynko!!! Kamaradka mi z Ceske Republiky poslala nekolik balicku hrube mouky, takze jsem pouzila tentokrat ji, ale je super vedet, ze klidne mohu pouzit Wondru.
    s pozdravem
    Monika z Ohia 😉

    1. Tak super! Jsem rada, ze se povedly. 🙂

      1. Halo,
        Zrejme jste vyborna kucharka. Skutecne vyborny gulas se da udelat kdyz pouzijete hovezi licka (beef cheeks)
        neni treba nic vyrezavat, slachy se rozpusti varenim. Zkuste to nekdy.

        1. Dekuji! Ja je v obchode nikdy nevidela. Urcite by to bylo vyborny.

  11. The company that makes frozen dumplings here in the US is Chateau Food Products, chateaufoods.com. They’re based in Cicero Illinois. Hard to find in stores but they do ship cases anywhere. The bread ones are excellent, the potato not so much.
    The reason I’m commenting is that on their website they say that dumplings make excellent French toast. I was wondering if you’ve ever tried that?
    Also, do you have a recipe for liver dumplings? My Babi’ made them perfectly since she was a cook in a Czech restaurant. Sadly she passed and no one ever wrote down the recipes.

    1. I am sorry to hear about your babi and that no one wrote down her recipes. I hear such stories too often. 🙁 I have not heard about french toast made of dumplings. Sounds interesting. I might need to try it. 🙂 I usually roast leftover dumplings with little oil and chopped onion and than add eggs. But didn’t have sweet version yet.

      1. Do you ever make liver dumplings for soup? Could you share the recipe if you do?

        1. I really like this soup but don’t have a recipe yet.

          1. we used to make liver dumplings for soups all the time. It is very easy. Just put pieces of livers (we used livers from rabbits but I think chicken livers would work just as fine) in a food processor to crush it. Then add 1 egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and one or two cloves of garlic (crushed). When to soup is almost done use a small spoon to scoop the mixture and dump it in the soup, boil for a few minutes and it is done.

    2. Chateau is what I grew up on. My sis usually brings me some from Chicago when she visits Houston, but even she can no longer find them. So I am going to have to learn how to make them myself. Roast pork loin in crock pot, Add one package onion soup mix, 1.5 cups water, cook on low for 6-ish hours. simmer sauerkraut in saucepan with a pinch of brown sugar, add caraway seeds if you’re lucky…I can’t because my husband doesn’t like them!! Thicken gravy in crockpot with a slurry of cornstarch and water. Layer dumpling, slice of pork, then sauerkraut and top with gravy. You have just died and gone to heaven!

      1. Yes, it is delicious! I also have a recipe for sauerkraut.

  12. Hi!

    I’ve been craving Czech goulash and dumplings since I visited Prague in 2011, but never managed to find recipes when I looked until now! I’m very excited.

    I’d like to make these, but my husband has a dairy allergy. We often substitute milk in recipes for water (pancakes etc), but I wasn’t sure about these. I know the flavour won’t be quite the same, but do you think it would work for these?

    Thanks!

    1. I think it should be fine. I also have recipe for regular dumplings. Without the the bread. Wishing you success!

    2. Nicole,
      I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I made a vegan version of houskový knedlík and they turned out fine. I only had almond milk in the house (plain, unsweetened), but rice milk would probably work too – maybe even better – as I’ve seen rice milk specified in vegan versions of knedlík. I used potato starch and water to substitute for the eggs, but it seems like you are just asking about the milk substitute. I used my Babi and Prateta’s recipe which is also yeast based and has the exact same ingredients as Kristýna’s but calls for more eggs and less milk, with the yeast being dissolved in water. I don’t know if a higher amount of plant based milk will make a difference in flavor, but I think it should be fine. I am definitely going to try Kristýna’s recipe next time using milk and egg substitutes.
      – Teresa
      Kristýnko – if you see this, have you ever tried halving the recipe or even making one-third for just one dumpling? There are only two of us and soooooo much knedlík LOL.

      1. Thank you Teresa! It is just two of us here too but I make full recipe and freeze the rest for next time. Which comes very handy.

        1. Oooo děkuje moc Kristýnko! I never thought to freeze them! I will be making more next week now for sure! Since returning to a vegan diet (which I don’t think my Babi, Děde or Prateta would have understood at all lol), I am happy I can still get the flavors of most of the Czech food I grew up with, and love that you take time to make such detailed videos to follow. They are so helpful, and now that most of my Czech family has passed away, make me feel that connection again through watching you cook and hearing your lovely Czech accent. So much love and skill and goes into your cooking. Posilam ti úsměv z New Yorku! : )

          1. Jee, moc dekuji za hezka slova! 🙂 Posilam moc pozdravu do New Yorku. 🙂

  13. Ahoj, moc děkuji za recept. A nejen za tento. Mám otázku ohledně mouky zn. Wondra. Ty všechny co jsem našel na internetu ji popisují jako jemnou mouku, “very fine quick mix blend.” Na knedlíky je ale třeba hrubou nebo alespoň polohrubou mouku, nepletu-li se. Takže otázkou je zdali je více nežli jeden druh Wondra four nebo je jen jedna?
    Předem děkuji,
    Jarda

    1. Ne ne je jen jedna. Ona je jemná ale konzistenci jako polohruba.

      1. Děkuji za rychlou odpoveď. Objednávám 6 pack na Amazonu. Je to $0.20/oz. Jen tak pro zajímavost, našel jsem obchod který tu mouku prodává ve velkém. Pokud někdo opravdu hodně vaří tak se to vyplatí. Prodávají to v 50 lb pytli za $27. Pochopitelně se musí platit poštovné což ke mě do Coloráda dělá $36.82. Podtrženo sečteno to i s poštovným stojí $0.08/oz. A hlavně člověk to nemusí tak často objednávat.
        https://www.bakersauthority.com/products/general-mills-wondra-quick-mixing-flour?variant=56070668302

        1. To je dobře vědět.

  14. Calling on Czechs living in British Columbia, Canada…what do you replace Wondra flour (not available here) with? And are portions Canadian “hladka mouka” same as the Czech one? It seems to me, that the Canadian (Rogers or others) is bit more “thirsty…
    Thanks!
    Petr

    1. Hi Petr, people in Canada told me they use Robin Hood Nutri Flour Blend “Tastes Like White” or Robin Hood Easy Blend. Every flour hydrates differently. So maybe that is why.

  15. Ahoj Kristynko. I’m a second generation Czech who grew up in Berwyn, went to Morton West and always went to Klaus, cermak plaza restaurant and all the others in that area. All gone now. . My grandparents both came from outside of Brno and have cousins still there. My wife and I went to the CR 2 yrs ago and we lived it and that’s how I stumbled onto ur website. LOVE ur dishes since they taste like when I was growing up. Mominku is in assisted living and is sad seeing her slowly go. I’m going to make ur bread dumplings for her to jog her memory a little. We used to have those with scrambled eggs as kids. Thank you, stay healthy and have a great 2022!

    1. Thank you Jeff! I am sorry to hear about your mom. But it is very thoughtful of you to make Czech dish to refresh her memory. Happy and healthy new year 2022!

  16. Thank you so much for sharing these recipes! Beef goulash and bread dumplings for dinner tonight. I am four weeks since a holiday to Prague (the first holiday since Covid!) and craving wonderful Czech cuisine.
    I’m in the UK and we don’t have Wondra here and we don’t have flour labelled as course like in Czechia so, I’ve gone for a pizza flour – “00” type and it looks like it’s worked perfectly.
    Thanks again – you have inspired me to try making some other Czech recipes soon.

    1. Thank you Will. In UK I recommend coarse flour in Polish stores called Krupczatka. 🙂 It works same way like Wondra.

  17. I see the ingredients, but not the instructions.

    1. Instructions are currently only in a video. I do have a hardcover cookbook on Amazon with recipe for regular dumplings.

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