Recipe: Germkrapfen/ Bauernkrapfen

Today we have a very special and traditional recipe for you: Germkrapfen (yeast dumplings) also called Bauernkrapfen (farmer's dumplings). We tried to make them, because usually only grandmother makes them. 

As the name already says it, for the Germkrapfen (yeast dumplings) you need a yeast dough. The dough gets proportioned and then fried in hot oil. They are served either with sauerkraut or as a sweet dish with jam. Idealy, both variants are served. The first ones with sauerkraut and after them another one or two (or three or four) with jam!

 

Tips for preparation: 

We have already shown you how to make a yeast dough, when we posted the recipe for the Wuchteln. However, a yeast dough can be made in serval different ways. For this recipe, for example, we need a dough, which is a little bit firmer. This time, we do not need as many spices as well. 

Ingredients for about 15 to 20 Germkrapfen

For the dough: 

  • 500 g flour, plain
  • 20 g yeast
  • 2 egg yolks
  • A little bit of oil
  • 1/4 l lukewarm milk
  • 60 g melted butter
  • A pinch of rum
  • Salt
  • Sugar
  • A Pan to heat the oil and fry the yeast dough 

For the sauerkraut

  • Sauerkraut
  • Half an onion
  • 1 raw potatoes
  • Peppercorns, juniper, bay leaves, caraway

For the sweet filling: 

  • Jam, we recommend cranberry or apricot

 

Preparation: 

  1. Put the flour in a bowl and add some salt
  2. Add some of the lukewarm milk
  3. Crumble the yeast into the bowl
  4. Sprinkle some sugar and some flour on top of it
  5. Cover it with a drying-up cloth and let it rest at a warm place for about 10 minutes
  1. When you see a bubble under the drying-up cloth, the yeast dough is ready and you can carry on with the preparation
  2. Add the melted, lukewarm butter and a pinch of rum and mix everything
  3. Then add the egg yolks and mix again, then add the lukewarm milk and stir everything
  4. Then mix the dough with a cooking spoon so long that a smooth yeast dough is created - or you simply let the food processor do this
  5. When you think the dough is smooth enough, add two drops of oil and stir it again with a cooking spoon
  6. Then cover it and let the dough rest again at a warm place for about an hour 
  1. When the dough has risen again, you have to stir it again
  2. Then form small dumplings out of the dough and put it on a cutting board, which is sprinkled with flour
  3. Cover the small dumplings and let them rest for another 20 minutes at a warm place
  1. For the sauerkraut: Chop the onions into small pieces and lightly saute them with the butter in a pan
  2. Add the sauerkraut and pour the water 
  3. Mix everything and let it boil, then add the spices
  4. Grate the potatoes and mix it to the sauerkraut
  1. Take a deep pan and heat some rapeseed oil to fry the Germkrapfen
  2. Try and pull the proportioned dumplings a litte bit at each side, so that the dough at the middle is only very thin and then put it in the hot oil
  3. Fry it at both sides until they are golden brown and then leave it to drain on a paper towel
  4. Fill the Krapfen either with sauerkraut or with jam and enjoy them!

I hope you enjoy the Germkrapfen as much as we do!

Eure Kristina

All pictures in this arctile have been made with the GoPro Hero9!