Cracker Barrel Restaurants serve a side dish called dumplings. This is not their chicken & dumplings main dish. It is a delicious side of just the dumplings without chicken. You could easily add chicken to this recipe if you wanted chicken & dumplings. They are so yummy and they do taste just like Cracker Barrel’s Dumplins! You can make dumpling dough ahead of time. Do not cook first. Simply roll and cut your dough then place on a tray lined with freezer paper. Freeze them for a couple of hours and then they can be placed into a zip lock freezer bag to go back in the freezer for later use.
Cook time: 10 Min Prep time: 15 Min Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
DUMPLINGS
2 c all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 qt water for boiling
2 tsp chicken soup base
SAUCE
3 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp sugar
1 c milk
2 tsp chicken soup base
1/2 to 3/4 cup dumpling cooking liquid (from after dumplings have been cooked)
Directions
1. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and oil, blending well, and turn out on to a floured surface. Knead four or five times. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick and cut into 1 x 1 1/2-inch dumplings.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the water and bouillon cubes/soup base. Boil until the bouillon cubes/soup base dissolve. Cook 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. Reserve the cooking liquid.
3. 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.
4. Reserve 3/4-1 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. Add pepper to taste.
Last Step: Don’t forget to share!