Dessert Pierogies (Part Two, Sweet Potato, Cranberry, Apple)

I have done it again! I have mixed the cute and bite-sized nature of a pierogie with the sweetness of pie! This time, I have truly embraced the PIE-rogie nature of this.

The Yadgrad group does an annual Thanksgiving dinner. I was asked to bring some dessert, I thought this would be a perfect occasion.

If this is your first time reading about my dessert pierogies, you should check out this page first. They were my first attempt, and this time I more-or-less followed the same procedure, just with different fillings.

So to start:

Sweet Potato!

I don't know if sweet potatoes are just getting more popular, or if they are a staple here in Eastern PA, but I have become a little fascinated by them. They are that weird unknown thing to me. Ever since Chelsea and I made Sweet Potato Pancakes, I have just been interested.

There is a problem. I went to the store, looking for 'Sweet Potatoes.' Giant Eagle was not selling any sweet potato, but they had pallets of yams. Yams are just as foreign to me. I had no idea what to do, so I decided to get a few yams, and I eventually found some (expensive) organic sweet potatoes.

The Left: Sweet Potatoes The Right: one Yam

Peeled Yam

So after some internet research, turns out in America they are basically the same thing. There are hard flesh sweet potatoes, called sweet potatoes, and soft flesh sweet potatoes called yams. Then in other parts of the world there is something completely different that is a yam, that only bears passing resemblance to what we call yams. I am still confused... but oh well. This does not really have anything to do with dessert pierogies... just a weird anecdote.

So for this filling you will need:
2-3 Sweet Potatoes (whatever that means)
Brown Sugar
Butter
Milk
Marshmellows
Corn Syrup

Wash and Peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes in to large cubes of equal size (6 to 10) per potato, just to help with cooking. Put in a pot of boiling water. Cook in boiling water, stirring occasionally, for 20 or so minutes. They are done when you can, with little effort, stick them with a knife.

Remove from water in to a large pot or bowl. Add butter (2-4 tablespoons), milk (2-4 tablespoons) and Brown Sugar (1/4 - 1/2 cup). Start mashing. Add more butter and brown sugar as you think is needed. Let this cool a little.

Potatoes and Cranberries!

Roll out the dough, cut some circles:

It is like an empty canvas

Place a small spoonful of smashed potato on a circle:

Then fold, press, and set aside.

Seeing as I only had one sheet to cook them on, I cooked everything on wax paper, to aid in moving around of product.

When ready to bake, heat oven to 350. Once heated, put pierogies in. Let them bake for 20 or so minutes, once they start to just get a little brown, remove them from the oven. Using the syrup as glue place a few marshmallows on the outside. Once everything is covered, put back in the oven.

I forgot about how marshmallows puff!

When pierogies are golden brown on the edges, and the marshmallows are golden, remove and let cool.

Just out of the oven

Mmmm....

Cranberry Tarts!
Gwyn suggested this one, kind of a Nantucket pierogie. Surprisingly, not as tart as I was expecting.

For these you will need:
a bunch of cranberries
Almonds or Walnuts (depending on what you want/have)
Brown Sugar

In a pot, put cranberries(2 cups) , smashed almonds (3/4 cup) (ziplock bag, then take a hammer to them) and brown sugar (1/4-1/2 cup). Heat this on medium, stirring often. Cook until the cranberries have all opened up. You should end up with a relish looking thing. Taste it, it should be great! Let cook.

See above, for picture of cranberries on stove

Same as before, cut circles, fill with spoon full of cranberries. Fold, pinch, set aside.

Cook these bad boys for 25 - 30 minutes at 350. Garnish with brown sugar.


Apple Pie
These are my favorite, but I also really like apple pie. Very similar to the mini apple pies.

For this you will need:
4-5 medium apples (the greener and tart-er the better)
Apple Pie Spice
Sugar

Start by washing and peeling the apples. This was super exciting for me! Gwyn gave me an early Christmas present:

One of the most useful kitchen gadgets ever invented.

As you all should know, this made peeling and slicing the apples a piece of cake (or pie...). I love this thing. I have always thought it was an amazing invention.

When you are processing the apples, you eventually want the apples in very small slices. Smaller than normal apple pie slices seeing as you need to fit it in a pierogie.

Once you have your apples ready, in a large bowl add sugar (enough to over all of the pieces) and as much spice as you want (I prefer a lot). Mix well and let sit for a little.

Already look tasty!

Roll, circle cut dough, prepare to fold. Add a small pile of apple to the middle. These ones are hard, all other pierogies I have made, the filling is plyable. Raw apples are not. This means it is really easy to poke through the dough. Just be gentle, and work the pieces to fit. Fold, pinch, set aside.

These were baked along with the cranberry pierogies, 25-30 minutes at 350. Garnished with Raw Sugar.

So all in all I made 65 dessert pierogies. My personal favorites were the apple variety, but again, I love apple pie. They were a big hit... and by that I mean that there were none left! Another successful pierogie making experience.

Oh and a very rare picture of me cooking... I normally have my hands full:

In my PJs!