Sundays with traditional Slovenian recipes – Buckwheat Dumplings with Walnuts

Buckwheat Dumplings with Walnuts are one of all-time favorite Slovenian desserts. Even though this recipe contains gluten, it can be made gluten-free using only buckwheat flour.
They are sweet, delicious, and they store well too.

Ingredients:

Dough

360 g (3 cups) buckwheat flour
40 g (1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
400 ml (1 2/3 cups) water

Filling

200 g (1 2/3 cups) ground walnuts
100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
½ tsp vanilla paste
40 g (3 tbsp) melted butter
120 g (1/2 cup) sour cream
2 eggs
2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Method:

First, make the dough for buckwheat dumplings. Add buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, and a pinch of salt to a bowl. Pour in boiling water, stir with a spoon, then knead into a dough. Leave in a bowl, cover with clingfilm, and set aside for 30 minutes for the dough to cool.
Add up to 40ml more water to get a smooth dough if needed. Optionally substitute the all-purpose flour with buckwheat flour to get gluten-free dumplings.
Combine ground walnuts, sugar, vanilla, melted butter, sour cream, eggs, breadcrumbs, and grated lemon zest in a bowl. Stir and set aside
Divide the dough in half. Dust the dough and working surface with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to get a 30 cm x 40 cm (12-inch x 16-inch) and 2 – 3 mm (1/8-inch) thickness. Spread half of the walnut filling over the first half of the dough. Starting at the bottom of the pastry, begin rolling the dumpling into a swiss roll shape. Make sure to tightly roll the dumpling to prevent any filling leakage. Wrap the strukelj in a kitchen towel tightly, then press the ends together and tie with a string to get a wrapped bonbon shape. Repeat the process with the rest of the pastry and filling.
Pour 2 liters (8 cups) of water into a big pot. Add a teaspoon of salt and place over high heat. Bring to a boil. Carefully add the wrapped dumplings into the pot, making sure the dumplings are entirely covered by water. Simmer for 35 - 40 minutes, covered with a lid.
Carefully transfer the cooked cheese dumplings from the pot to a baking sheet, set aside for 15 minutes, then carefully unwrap and cut into slices. Serve warm with your favorite topping or sauce.