Knedle are a very popular, quick Croatian dessert. They are basically just fried, potato-based donuts filled with whole pitted plums. We typically eat them at Church luncheons for dessert to go with coffee.
Plums are very common in Croatia, so we incorporate them into a lot of our foods—not to mention our famous plum brandy, or Šljivovica. Knedle, of course, are also great finger food for drinking!
You should be able to whip up this classic Croatian dessert in under 30 minutes. The following recipe produces 15-20 knedle.
Ingredients:
- 4 large potatoes, boiled then peeled
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 15-20 ripe Croatian prune plums, pitted
- 2/3 cup Croatian extra virgin olive oil
- 2/3 cup plain breaded crumbs (optional: for extra crisp)
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional: for extra flavor)
Preparation:
- In a medium bowl, mash potatoes with salt and butter. Add egg and mix until well combined. Sift in flour and knead until soft dough forms and it does not stick to your hands. Cut dough into 15-20 equal pieces.
- With lightly floured hands, take a piece of dough and pat it flat. Place one plum in the center and bring sides of dough over plum; roll it between the hands until it’s sealed tight (moist your hands if necessary).
- In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Lower the heat to medium. One at a time put dumplings into boiling water. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Dumplings are done when they rise to the top.
- In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat (Olive Oil Smoke Point: Safe For Cooking?).
- Add bread crumbs. Stir for a couple of minutes or until they darken just a bit.
- Using a slotted spoon, add cooked dumplings to the breadcrumbs and roll them in the pan to coat completely. Transfer to a plate.
- In a small bowl combine the sugar and cinnamon.
- Serve dumplings sprinkled with sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Knedle are delicious fried, crispy and golden brown. Especially when they’re sauteed in a quality extra virgin olive oil, like the real stuff from my family farm.
If you LOVE real extra virgin olive oil as much as I do, consider purchasing some of my own hand-picked, first cold pressed, extra virgin liquid gold, direct from my family farm in Croatia.
[optin-cat id=342]