AI-generated image
Knyshi
Knyshi (книші): soft yeast buns with folded edges around a potato and fried onion filling
UkrainianOn Poltava farms knyshi came out of the stove alongside the bread on baking day: rounds of soft milk dough with their edges pinched up like a little open basket, so the filling shows in the middle. Potato mashed with plenty of onion fried in sunflower oil and a handful of dill is the everyday version, and the buns are eaten warm with a bowl of soup or cold on the way to the fields. Some cooks fill them with curd cheese or poppy seed instead, especially for Christmas Eve. The dough should be pillowy and the potato soft and peppery. Most people go wrong by spooning in warm, wet mash, which steams the dough from inside and makes it soggy; let the filling cool fully. Chef's tip: brush the baked buns with melted butter the moment they come out of the oven, then cover with a towel for 10 minutes so the crust turns soft and silky.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the dough
For the filling
- 1 ½ lb floury potatoespeeled and cut into chunks
- 3 onionsfinely chopped
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 3 tbsp dillchopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Stir ¼ oz fast-action dried yeast and 1 tbsp sugar into 1 cup milk and leave for 5 minutes until foamy.
5 minStep 2: Put 1 ⅛ lb strong white flour and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl, add the milk, 1 egg and 1 ¾ oz butter and knead for 8–10 minutes, until smooth, elastic and springing back when pressed. Cover and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour, until doubled.
70 minStep 3: Meanwhile, boil 1 ½ lb floury potatoes in salted water for 15–18 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Drain well and mash.
18 minStep 4: Fry 3 onions in 4 tbsp sunflower oil over a medium heat for 10–12 minutes, until golden. Mix into the mash with 3 tbsp dill, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper and leave to cool completely.
12 minStep 5: Knock back the dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each into a 12 cm circle, put a heaped spoon of filling in the middle and pinch the edge up into 6–8 pleats, leaving the centre open.
15 minStep 6: Set on two lined trays, cover and prove for 20 minutes, until puffy. Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan).
20 minStep 7: Brush the dough edges with 1 egg yolk and bake for 20–22 minutes, until deep golden and hollow-sounding underneath.
22 minStep 8: Brush at once with ⅔ oz butter, cover with a clean towel for 10 minutes and serve warm.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 270 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does knyshi take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 35 minutes to prepare and 85 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Moist banana bread
The blacker the bananas, the better the loaf. This one is mixed in a single bowl with melted butter and a little brown sugar, so it's soft, deeply banana-y and keeps well for days.
American
Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul are delicate shortbread-like pastries made for Eid and Easter across the Middle East. A soft, rose-scented butter dough is wrapped around a filling of dates, walnuts, almonds and pistachios cooked with cinnamon, marked with a fork, baked pale and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 35; they keep well in a tin.
Tarte au sucre lilloise
In Lille and across the Nord, a sugar tart is not pastry at all but a flat round of soft brioche dough, dimpled and covered with brown cassonade sugar, butter and a little egg and cream, which bakes into a sticky, caramelised top over a fluffy base. Families buy it from the boulangerie for Sunday breakfast and goûter, or bake one when guests come for coffee. The Nord's own beet sugar, vergeoise, gives it a deep, almost molasses flavour; soft dark brown sugar is the closest swap. Chef's tip: press deep dimples into the risen dough with your fingertips before adding the topping; the sugar and cream collect in them and bake into little pools of caramel.
French