While I have never heard of Bierocks growing up in Germany, and don't even know a German that knows this dish, I get asked all the time if I have a Bierock recipe.
I will be working on bringing a more traditional Bierock beef and cabbage filling recipe to the blog, but something in me wanted to start with this sausage and sauerkraut version.
I added some caramelized onion to balance out the sour notes in the sauerkraut and ended up with irresistible little meat pockets! For the bread portion, I recruited my Brötchen recipe to help me out. And it works so perfectly with the filling! I am already dreaming of creating a pretzel version using my Laugenbrötchen recipe as well!
Bierock ingredients
Bierocks are really not too difficult to make, especially if you decide to skip making homemade rolls. Below I am listing all ingredients needed for the rolls and my sausage and sauerkraut filling.
- Flour. You will need all-purpose flour if making homemade rolls, which are authentic German Brötchen. However, if you want to skip this step, you could purchase a can of refrigerated biscuit dough and fill it instead.
- Yeast. I use active-dry yeast for all of my baking. Not sure about yeast? Consult my free yeast tips sheet!
- Milk. I use whole milk for the Brötchen, but lower-fat versions will work.
- Sugar. There is just one teaspoon of sugar that goes into the dough for the rolls.
- Butter. Grass-fed butter is my preferred butter.
- Onion. We will caramelize some onions by slow-cooking. You can use either yellow onion or sweet onion for this step.
- Apple. I add one green apple to my sauerkraut-sausage filling mixture, which gives it a touch of sourness and sweetness.
- Stock. You can use any stock you have on hand. I like using veggie or chicken stock.
- Sauerkraut. I love making homemade sauerkraut, but if you don't have some sitting around, canned or jarred works just great. Make sure to drain the brine before adding to the filling.
- Sausages. My favorite sausages are from the German-style butcher Schaller & Weber, and they now have Jarlsberg cheese-stuffed Frankfurter sausages that are just so good. I used the cocktail size for this recipe and added about 3 to each roll.
Who invented Bierocks?
The reason why Germans are not familiar with Bierocks is that Volga Germans, living in Russia, invented them and then took the recipe to the USA, where they became popular.
Either way, they are somewhat of a genius idea since you technically have a whole meal in a pocket. I am totally going to get behind this concept and create a few more Bierock recipes.
How to make Bierocks
Making Bierocks takes a few steps, but just know that it's going to be worth it! You can cut out significant time by skipping the bread dough making and instead using canned biscuits (the refrigerated kind).
The first step will be to make the pre-dough for your dough. This is mixed together in just about a minute and then needs to sit for 2 to 3 days before you can proceed. This makes a huge difference in developing the right texture and flavor of the rolls. And you should totally make these rolls, called Brötchen, for an authentic German breakfast sometime!
You will then mix together the remaining dough ingredients and knead it. While the dough rises a second time, you will prepare the caramelized onion and the sausage and sauerkraut filling.
Finally, you will fill the dough with the filling, brush the rolls with water, and bake them with steam according to the easy-to-follow instructions in the recipe card below. I cannot wait for you to make them and hope you stick around to see the future Bierock versions going live!
Bierocks with Sausage and Sauerkraut
Equipment
- 1 Pastry Brush For brushing water onto the rolls before baking and again 10 minutes into baking.
- 1 spray bottle As an alternative for brushing on water, you could instead spray it on.
- 1 Rolling Pin For rolling out the Bierocks dough
Ingredients
Pre-Dough
- 130 g all-purpose flour
- 90 g water
- 1 g active dry yeast
- 3 g salt
Main Dough
- 305 g all-purpose flour
- 70 g water 80 degrees C/ 175 degrees F
- 100 g milk whole milk, cold
- 3 g active dry yeast
- 6 g salt
- 6 g sugar
Bierock Filling
- 2 tablespoons butter divided between onions and sauerkraut
- 1 large onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 green apple
- 250 milliliters vegetable stock or any stock or broth you have on hand
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 150 grams sauerkraut Drain the brine. I love using my homemade sauerkraut, but canned would of course be fine to use too!
- 150 grams Wiener or Frankfurter sausages I used these cheese-stuffed Käsekrainer sausages from Schaller & Weber.
Instructions
Make the Bierock Dough
- Start by making your Bierock roll dough, which is taken from my authentic Brötchen recipe. Alternatively, use canned biscuits to speed things up.Combine all ingredients for the pre-dough (also called a poolish) )and allow to rest in an airtight bowl in your fridge for 48 to 72 hours before finishing the dough. The volume should have at least doubled and the dough should be nice and bubbly.130 g all-purpose flour, 90 g water, 1 g active dry yeast, 3 g salt
- Combine the warm water, sugar and yeast and allow to get bubbly, which should take about 5 minutes. If it does not get bubbly, consult this yeast tips sheet that you can download here for free and that is part of my German pastry online baking class.70 g water, 6 g sugar, 3 g active dry yeast
- Add all other ingredients and predough and knead on the lowest setting for 5 minutes. Then increase to the second setting for another 8 minutes.305 g all-purpose flour, 100 g milk, 6 g salt
- Cover the bowl and let rise for one hour.
- Preheat your oven to 230° Celsius or 445° Fahrenheit and place an oven-safe bowl full of hot water on the bottom rack while preheating to create steam.
Prepare the Filling
- In the meantime, prepare your Bierock filling. Cut the onion in half and thinly slice it. Heat a medium sized pan over medium heat and add one tablespoon of butter. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. The onions should be a golden brown color.2 tablespoons butter, 1 large onion
- Medium-dice a green apple (I leave the skin on). Add to a pan with the remaining butter and cook for a minute over medium-high heat or until starting to brown. Mince the garlic and add to the pan. Cook for another minute. Drain the sauerkraut and add to the pan and add the broth. Sprinkle the flour on top. Finally add in the sausages and stir for a couple of minutes or until the sausages are warmed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.1 clove garlic, 1 green apple, 250 milliliters vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon flour, 150 grams sauerkraut, 150 grams Wiener or Frankfurter sausages
Shape Bierocks
- Knead the dough for a couple of minutes and shape 10 dough balls of about 90 grams (3.1 ounces) each.Using a rolling pin, flatten the balls to be about 5 inch rounds, then fill with the sauerkraut-sausage filling, and the caramelized onions. Pinch the seams together over the filling (see pictures), then place the roll seam side down on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Bake Bierocks
- Spray or brush on water and bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. At this point, open the oven door wide to release steam. Then continue baking for 5 more minutes.Now remove the hot water AND the rolls, brush on more hot water, and return to the oven to finish baking for the last 5 minutes or until golden in color. Brushing on the water towards the end of baking helps to give the rolls a shiny finish,Your Bierocks will bake for 20 minutes in total.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 or more minutes before eating. Serve with some mustard for dipping.
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