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