1/23/15 Today's Recipe Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Dumplings

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 quarts water
3 chicken bouillon cubes or about 2 teaspoons of soup base
Sauce
3 tablespoons butter
Salt to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup buttermilk or whole milk
2 chicken bouillon cubes, crumbled or about 2 teaspoons chicken soup base
1/2 to 3/4 cup dumpling cooking liquid (from after dumplings have been cooked)

Instructions

Dumplings

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and oil, blending well, and turn out on to a floured surface. Knead four or five times. Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll out one piece to 1/8-inch thick and cut into 1 x 1 1/2-inch dumplings.

In a large saucepan, combine the water and bouillon cubes/soup base. Boil until the bouillon cubes/soup base dissolve. Cook half of the dumplings until just about done; dumplings are done when they float up towards the top of the pot. Use a strainer to remove them to a bowl and set aside. Finish the other half of the dumplings in the same way. Reserve the cooking liquid.

Sauce

While the dumplings are cooking, you can start to prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in medium saucepan. Add salt and flour; stir until thick. Mix the sugar with the milk and add to flour mixture a little at a time, stirring constantly with a whisk until thick and smooth. Remove from heat. Add the cooked dumplings to the sauce.

Dissolve the crumbled bouillon cubes in 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and stir gently into the sauce and dumplings. Return to low heat and simmer until blended. If the sauce seems too thick, gently stir in a little more cooking liquid.