Czech Dumplings (Knedliky)

Whenever I make my Grandma's czech bread dumplings recipe I'm always bummed they aren't fluffly like the ones I've had in the Czech Republic. I pulled out my Czech cookbook, literally written in the Czech language, and found this recipe for knedliky. I tested it out on my cousin, Alexa and got the stamp of approval. These dumplings were really bready but dense. I didn't realize it would be basically a bread dough and would need so long to rise! Next time I make this I'm going to experiment with the rise time so they're nice and fluffy when finished!

Ingredients:

4 cups (500 g) all purpose flour
1 egg
1 1/4 cup (3dl) lukewarm milk
2 rolls (about 4 slices of white loaf bread) cut into cubes
3.5 tsp. (10 g) yeast
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, heat milk to 105-110 degrees F. Once it hits temperature, pour into a small bowl and add yeast. Mix together and allow to bloom for at least 5 minutes. (If you don't see bubbles in this mix after a few minutes, your yeast is old and not very good).

2. In a large bowl, sift flour. Add in salt and stir.

3. Add yeast mixture and egg to the flour mixture.

4. Mix dough together with a spoon or using your hands. Knead this mix like bread or pasta dough for a few minutes until it forms a nice dough.

5. Add diced bread cubes. Knead again until bread is fully incorporated into the dough.

6. Allow bread to rise for 4 hours in a clean bowl covered with a kitchen towel. When ready to make dumplings, fill a large pot with water and set over high heat to bring to a boil.

7. Put dough on a cutting board and divide into 3 parts. Make into nice round logs so final dumplings will come out with a nice shape.

8. Boil dumplings 10 minutes per side, flipping the logs 180 degress one time during the cooking process. (20 minutes total)

9. Remove from water unto a cutting board and slice immediately. Use czech dumpling cutter or a knife and make them about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick.

10. Place into a towel lined bowl to keep warm. Serve with any meat or dish with a lot of gravy, dumplings are great for soaking up sauce!