Easy Bierocks - German Hamburger and Cabbage Rolls Tutorial

My grandma is a wonderful cook, I fondly remember many of her special meals, one of my favorites was a soft bun, made of bread dough, and filled with a delicious mixture of hamburger and cabbage. My grandma had learned the recipe from one of her neighbors who was from a German family. I learned that these buns are called Bierocks or Runza Meat Pies and have always wanted to make them. Unlike my grandma, who has wonderful bread making skills, I am still a novice in the yeast dough department, so I have always been hesitant to try making them. Then it dawned on me that I could use frozen bread rolls and give this recipe a try after all, they turned out so delicious, and were so easy to make, I thought I'd share my recipe.

Easy Bierocks

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen bread rolls ( I made 20 but there was filling for probably 25)
1 1/2 pound hambuger
1 large diced onion
1 large bag coleslaw shredded mix
Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
butter

Start by thawing and rising the bread rolls as directed by the package, I set mine out on lightly cooking sprayed parchment paper and covered with lightly cooking sprayed plastic wrap. I let the rolls rise and thaw on my counter for around five to six hours.

When they were thawed and risen I got to work making the filling. I sauteed the chopped onion in a little butter until it was starting to be translucent, then added the hamburger and cooked until browned and cooked through. I drained the grease from the pan, returned the pan to the stove added 1/2 a cup of water and the bag of pre-chopped coleslaw cabbage blend, cook until cabbage has softened and water has evaporated (the water is just there to help steam the cabbage and prevent the browned hamburger from sticking). Add a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside mixture to cool.

While hamburger mixture is cooling lay out some wax paper and dust with a little flour to roll out buns. I didn't even bother getting out the rolling pin since these were smaller, I used a large plastic cup instead and it worked great. I lightly dusted the top of the bun with flour as well and rolled each bun into a flat disk, refreshing flour as needed. I rolled out about four or five at a time and then would fill them and then roll out more.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop a pile of meat mixture onto flattened bun, fold dough over to form a half circle and press dough shut, I found that rolling and pinching the edge of the roll made a better seal. As you are folding it and pinching the bun in half you can hold it in your hand and when it is half way closed you can tuck in a little more meat mixture and finish sealing, that way they will be nice and full.

Before baking I brushed each roll with melted butter, then baked at 350 according to frozen roll bag, until they were golden brown, for about 20 minutes.

When they came out of the oven I brushed on another layer of melted butter over the hot rolls, then let them cool for about five minutes. I baked ten per tray in two batches.

These rolls were delicious, the filling was just as I remembered and the bread was delicious and buttery, by the end of the evening all twenty were gone! The whole family loved them, and these will definitely be on our menu rotation from now on.

Thanks for stopping by!

You might be interested in reading about our recent outing to a natural soda spring out in the cascade foothills - Our Day Hike to Wilhoit Springs 

 Hope everyone is having a nice summer week!