Baking Bierocks

Larry’s mom, Ollie, is the Queen of Bierocks. She has made many, many 1000’s of them over the years and still continues to bake them today, even at 92. Needless to say, she doesn’t make nearly as many as she used to though. Ollie has decided since she can’t make them en mass like before, it is now time to start sharing the recipe. Before we were all sworn to secrecy. Video #8 – Baking With Ollie, Bierocks and Soup She taught all of us wanted to learn, how to make them quite a few years ago. Bierocks are German meat pockets, also known as runzas or kraut burgers.

I am taking some classes with the church for the next few weeks, and in one class, we have been serving dinner, since we meet from 6:30-8:30 PM once a week. It was my turn to provide the meal this week, and I chose a good German, and a good Ollie meal. The menu was Bierocks, chicken noodle soup, a simple green salad, and some raspberry crumbles for dessert (those I bought). Everything was a huge hit.

I meant to take pictures of everything once it was all set up, but as soon as people started arriving, they also started eating, so no more pictures. I did get a picture of the raspberry crumbles before leaving though.

I made the filling first. You can make this ahead if needed.

Bierock Filling

2 1/2 – 3 lbs ground beef

1/2 head green cabbage, chopped fine

1 onion, chopped fine

1 heaping TBSP garlic

3/4 cup flour

1 cup beef broth

salt & pepper to taste

Combine everything together except the flour and beef broth and cook in a large pot with vegetable oil until the cabbage and onions are softened and the meat is done. Add the beef broth and flour to the mixture, combine well and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Set aside until you are ready to use it.

Bierock Dough

12 cups flour + extra for the surface to roll the dough in

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup salt

1/3 cup yeast

2-3 TBSP melted butter + 2-3 TBSP extra to brush on top

5 cups water

2 eggs for the dough + more for the egg wash

I have used both mixer and have made it all by hand. In all honesty, I actually prefer making it by hand, since my big mixer struggles a bit with this much dough all at once. Combine everything together in a big bowl and mix everything together well. Once all the ingredients are thoroughly combined, start kneading the dough on a lightly floured surface to form a big dough ball.

Cover the dough and let rise in a warm area for about 20 minutes. Divide the dough in half. While working with one half, cover the other half and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C.

Lightly flour the working surface again and the dough out to about 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut the dough into round circles. You can cut them any size you like, but they have to be large enough and strong enough to hold the meat filling.

Before, when I made these, I often had to much dough for the amount of meat I used. So I found that once I cut the circles, I rolled them out again to make them thinner. That worked much better. Once I got my dough to the right consistency, I filled them with about 1/3 cup of the meat filling and wrapped them to make a pocket or purse. Bring all the edges in towards the middles and pinch tight to seal the dough. Then shape the dough balls into round circles and pat and shape as you are rolling the dough balls.

Once all the pockets are filled, brush them with an egg wash thoroughly before putting them in the oven to bake. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown. As soon as the bierocks come out of the oven, brush them with the melted butter and serve.

Ollie, my mother-in-law, has always served them with soup on the side. I did too. These are great little beef pockets that will travel very well. They are best when served hot. I had enough meat to make about 28 bierocks.

I ended up only using 1/2 the dough, so I have more for later. Ollie always spoiled Larry and his siblings by making cinnamon rolls and sausage rolls with the rest of her dough. I was thinking about making cinnamon rolls, but we are having guests over for dinner tomorrow, so I am going to make something different with my dough, and i will share it with you at another time. For Ollie, this is her basic dough that she uses for everything. It is a very versatile soft dough.

Enjoy or Viel SpaB. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.