Thanksgiving Dumplings
Thanksgiving meant chicken and dumplings in my family every single year when I was growing up, and it was just the BEST part of the year, lemme tell you. Granted, I was that picky little kid who wouldn't eat dumplings until I was 7 or 8, but that doesn't mean much -- I refused to eat ANYTHING for the first near-decade of my life. I was surprised and pleased to learn when I was in my teens that the dumplings I had loved so much were my grandmother's own recipe, and delighted when I learned as an adult, living too far away to come home for Thanksgiving, that I could make dumplings myself. These are the ultimate comfort-food, and one of my favorite things about the autumn holidays.
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour (1 cup)
4 tsp salt (1 tsp)
4 tsp baking powder (1 tsp)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (2 tbsp)
1 1/2 cup milk (3 oz)
Extra flour for rolling
12 cups water (3 cups)
1 tbsp bouillon of your choosing (I use vegetable and it's delish) (3/4 tsp)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the shortening and blend with a pastry blender. If you don't have one of those, go get one.
- Add the milk a bit at a time, stirring with a spatula until it starts to come together. You may need to add a few sprinkles of flour to it if it's sticky. You want it a little sticky, but not so much that it's making a mess of your hands.
- This is probably a good time to start boiling your water and bouillon in a big ol' soup-pot on the stove.
- On a flat, floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/6" thick. I totally cheat and use a rolling pin with rings on it so my dumplings are wicked even.
- Cut the dumplings into squares maybe 1-2" on both sides, and please don't worry about the weird misshapen ones, they're just fine.
***Note: If you're like me and lack an enormous rolling space, roll 'em out in bits. I usually tear my dough into quarters and roll my dumplings a quarter at a time, piling the cut dumplings onto a plate until they're all cut. Works out great.
- Drop the dumplings into the boiling water and very, very gently stir them with a long wooden spoon to make sure they're not sticking together.
- Boil on medium heat 15-20 minutes, stirring gently every few minutes, until the dumplings are tender and the water has turned into gravy.
I like to add some black pepper to my dumplings while they're cooking, but that's a sin against tradition so I'm leaving it out of the recipe proper. Also, I've included the breakdown of how to make a single batch of these, which would feed two people, but I can't imagine why I'd ever do that. Leftover dumplings are AWESOME.
Enjoy!
Thanksgiving Dumplings
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour (1 cup)
4 tsp salt (1 tsp)
4 tsp baking powder (1 tsp)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (2 tbsp)
1 1/2 cup milk (3 oz)
Extra flour for rolling
12 cups water (3 cups)
1 tbsp bouillon of your choosing (I use vegetable and it's delish) (3/4 tsp)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the shortening and blend with a pastry blender. If you don't have one of those, go get one.
- Add the milk a bit at a time, stirring with a spatula until it starts to come together. You may need to add a few sprinkles of flour to it if it's sticky. You want it a little sticky, but not so much that it's making a mess of your hands.
- This is probably a good time to start boiling your water and bouillon in a big ol' soup-pot on the stove.
- On a flat, floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/6" thick. I totally cheat and use a rolling pin with rings on it so my dumplings are wicked even.
- Cut the dumplings into squares maybe 1-2" on both sides, and please don't worry about the weird misshapen ones, they're just fine.
***Note: If you're like me and lack an enormous rolling space, roll 'em out in bits. I usually tear my dough into quarters and roll my dumplings a quarter at a time, piling the cut dumplings onto a plate until they're all cut. Works out great.
- Drop the dumplings into the boiling water and very, very gently stir them with a long wooden spoon to make sure they're not sticking together.
- Boil on medium heat 15-20 minutes, stirring gently every few minutes, until the dumplings are tender and the water has turned into gravy.
I like to add some black pepper to my dumplings while they're cooking, but that's a sin against tradition so I'm leaving it out of the recipe proper. Also, I've included the breakdown of how to make a single batch of these, which would feed two people, but I can't imagine why I'd ever do that. Leftover dumplings are AWESOME.
Enjoy!
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