Germknödel - Austrian Sweet Dumplings

A delicious sweet and filling dumpling recipe that can be served both as a main course or as a dessert. Filled with plum jam, topped with poppyseed sugar and served with vanilla sauce.

Course Dessert, Main Course

Cuisine Austrian, German

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 14

Resting Time 1

Servings dumplings

Calories 588kcal

Ingredients

125 ml milk ½ cup
7 g instant yeast 2 teaspoon (one packet)
40 g sugar 1.4 oz,
250 g flour 8.8 oz, Germany type 405, UK Plain Flour, USA Pastry Flour.
50 g butter 1.7 oz
2 egg yolks
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract can be sustituted with 2 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

For the Filling

4 tablespoon plum butter can be replaced with plum jam
1 teaspoon rum (optional)

For the poppy seed sugar

4 tablespoon ground poppy seeds
2 tablespoon icing / confectioners sugar
50 g butter 1.7 oz

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Heat up the milk to a lukewarm temperature. Mix in the yeast and sugar and stir. Leave to rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. You should see some bubbles forming on the surface. This means your yeast is activating. If you cannot see them your milk might have been too hot, and you should start again.
125 ml milk, 7 g instant yeast, 40 g sugar
Preheat your oven to its lowest setting.
Now add in the flour, salt, vanilla sugar, butter, lemon peel and egg yolks. Knead the dough with a hand or stand mixer, with a dough hook to a smooth dough for approximately 10 minutes.
250 g flour, 2 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel, 50 g butter, 1 pinch salt
Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. Turn off the oven, and place the bowl in it. Leave to rise for about 45 minutes. By this time the dough should have doubled in size.
Knead the dough for about 2 minutes by hand on a floured surface to remove any air bubbled that might have formed during the rise. Then divide the dough into four equal portions. Sometimes it helps to use a kitchen scale if you want to be exact.
If you want to use the rum, mix it in with the plum butter. Flatten the dough pieces by hand, and add a tablespoon of plum butter/ jam in the middle. Fold the sides to the middle and form into a round ball.
4 tablespoon plum butter, 1 teaspoon rum
Leave the balls to rise for a further 15 minutes. The seams should be at the bottom.
In the meantime, grease the bottom of your steaming basket with butter, so the dumplings do not end up sticking to the pan.
Pour water in a pan and bring to boil. It is important that the water does not widley bubble, just simmer. Otherwise the water might spit and you the bottom of your Germknödel will get soggy.
Depending on the size of your steamer basket, place the dumpling inside. You might have to steam them individually. They should not touch and need enough space between one another. The dumplings will expand and then they might stick together if you are not careful. Steam for approximately 15 minutes.
In the meantime prepare the Vanilla Sauce according to this recipe

To serve

Melt the butter in a pot.
50 g butter
Mix the poppy seeds and icing/confectioners sugar in a bowl.
4 tablespoon ground poppy seeds, 2 tablespoon icing / confectioners sugar
Place each dumpling into a bowl. Pour over a little melted butter and add a teaspoon of the poppyseed sugar mixture on top.
Serve with German Vanilla Sauce or Custard.

Notes

I would recommend checking out the step by step images in the post.

Baking with Yeast: Steps for Sucess

Baking with yeast is not rocket science. Here are my best tips to ensure that your yeast dough rises every time.

Use lukewarm milk. The microorganism in the yeast will activate through heat and sugar. The ideal temperature of the milk should be around 30-35°C / 86-95 °F. If the temperature rises above 45°C/113°F, the cells will die and your dough will not rise.
Make sure your yeast is not out of date. Using out of date yeast is a common reason for the dough not rising.
35°C/95 °F is the perfect temperature for the dough to rise. The temperature should not get hotter than 40 °C. If your kitchen is cooler, then preheat the oven to the lowest setting. Turn the oven off and place the dough in the oven. Cover it with a moist tea towel so it does not dry out. (If your lowest setting is hotter than 40 °C like mine 50 °C leave the door open for a couple of minutes before placing the dough in)
Knead the dough thoroughly - To ensure that the bread becomes light and fluffy you need to knead it for a long time. A well-kneaded dough hardly sticks. After the dough rises it is important to knead it again, as during the rising process gas bubbles form. This will ensure that your bread bakes evenly

If you made too many dumplings, you can store them in the fridge for up to two days. You can either reheat them in the microwave or steamer. When reheating in the microwave, wet the dumplings with a little water. Place in a microwave-proof container with a lid, and reheat at ca. 600 Watt for 2-3 minutes.

Can you freeze Germknödel?

These yeast balls freeze very well. It is best to freeze them after you have completley prepared and cooked the Knödel. To reheat, you can use a steamer basket, and reheat in the steamer for about 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can defrost and reheat the dumpling in the microwave.

Eat the dumplings soon after they are reheated as they dry out quickly.

Nutrition