Bierocks

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, prepare dough according to the directions on the package (you’ll typically need water, eggs, and butter, as directed in mix package). Knead 5 minutes, then place dough on surface (like a large cutting board) sprayed with nonstick spray. Turn the bowl upside down over the dough. Let dough rest while you make the filling.

In a skillet, over medium heat, begin to brown hamburger. Add onion and garlic about halfway through the cooking time. Crumble up the hamburger as much as possible as it cooks.

Drain cooked hamburger and transfer to medium bowl. Use a fork to crumble up any remaining big chunks of meat. Stir in sugar, salt, and pepper.

Drain sauerkraut. With kitchen shears (or a sharp knife), cut up the sauerkraut so it’s not quite so stringy. Stir into the hamburger mixture.

Divide roll dough evenly in to 12 pieces. On a floured board, roll one piece of dough out so it’s no more than 1/4 inch thick, about 5 inches in diameter. (Although I try for a circle, it doesn’t really matter if it’s round or square.)

Put ¼ cup of hamburger filling in the center of the dough. Top with 2 tablespoons of cheese. Fold two sides of the dough (stretch the dough just slightly as you do this) towards each other, overlapping each other over the filling. Fold the opposite ends of the dough over each other. All of the filling should now be covered with dough.

Turn the bierock over and gently tuck in any corners underneath the bierock to help prevent cheese from leaking out (a little might, but not much). Place it on the baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough and filling. Leave space between bierocks as the dough rises and expands while baking.

Bake for 15 minutes. Brush warm bierocks with melted butter. Serve with mustard (a spicy or grainy mustard tastes best), or sauce of your choice.

Store completely cooled bierocks in tightly covered container in refrigerator. To reheat, make 3 slits in the top of refrigerated bierock (or cut it in half) before gently reheating in microwave.

Bierocks may be frozen. Cool completely, then wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag.