Finnish Karelian Pies

These pies are super famous in Finland. Here we call them Karjalanpiirakka.  Every Finn has eaten these many times in their lives and everyone loves them. They are small pies/pastries with a tasty crust and a creamy rice porridge filling. Usually people make the crust of rye flour, but because I am on a gluten-free diet and can´t eat rye I made my gluten-free version of it.

Many flours for the best flavor

In this recipe I used many different flours, buckwheat flour, oat flour and gluten-free flour mix. I also used an ingredient I have never tried before, psyllium powder. Psyllium makes it easier to roll the dough thin enough. It also gives a great texture to the crust. I have tried the recipe without psyllium and it works like that too but it´s so much easier to bake them if you use it.

I made my research about this psyllium powder because I wanted to make sure that I wouldn´t get stomach ache from that. Psyllium should be tolerated by some people with IBS, but not all. In this recipe there is only 1 1/2 teaspoons of the powder, so it should be fine with IBS sufferers. At least, I didn´t get any symptoms of it.

Christmas time treat

In my family we eat these pastries a lot especially at Christmas. This year we won´t buy these pies from grocery store because I am baking them by myself. My parents said to me before I baked these for the first time that could I make a batch with gluten for them and I said that no, you´ll have to taste them first before judging. And when they tasted them, they were amazed, because my gluten-free Karelian Pies were so delicious.

These pastries taste the best when you eat them fresh out of the oven. We often serve them with egg-butter. So yummy! These are a traditional treat in my country. I hope you dare to try my Finnish Karelian Pies recipe.

Finnish Karelian Pies

Traditional pastries that everyone in Finland loves. They are so delicious. A perfect combination of the crispy crust and a creamy rice porridge filling.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Finnish

Servings 20 pastries

Ingredients

  

The rice porridge filling

• 7/8 cup water 2 dl
• 7/8 cup porridge rice 2 dl
• 1/4 gallon lactose-free milk or rice milk 1 liter
• 1 teaspoon salt

The crust

• 7/8 cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoon psyllium powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil or lactose-free melted butter
• 1 cup buckwheat flour +more for baking!
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup gluten-free flour mix

Instructions

 

The rice porridge filling

• Put the rice and water into a pot and bring to boil. Let boil for a couple of minutes until the water is absorbed to the rice.
• Add the milk. Cook over low heat covered for about 40 minutes until the milk is absorbed. Remember to stir it occasionally.
  

The crust

• Heat the water in the microwave until it’s warm. Add the psyllium to the water and mix well. Let sit for ten minutes.
• Add rest of the ingredients to the mixture and make a stiff dough.
• Divide the dough into three parts and roll those parts into sticks (about four fingers thick).
• Cut about 1,5 inch piece (3-4 cm) of a dough stick and make a ball out of it with your hands. Flour the surface well and roll the ball into a 5-inch (12-15 cm) circle (as thin as you can).
  
• Spread rice porridge to the center, about 2 tablespoons on each round.
  
• Fold two of the opposite edges over the rice porridge filling.
  
• Crimp the edges of the dough with your fingers (see the picture).
  
• Make an oval shaped pastry. Place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
  
• Bake the pies in the oven at (225 in Celsius) for about 10-15 minutes.
• After taking them out of the oven, melt some butter and brush on the pastries.
  
• Serve with butter, eggs and ham or just plain, they taste really good like that too.

Keyword Finnish Karelian Pies