Dumplings
from 1950 edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Good with Kielbasa and Sauerkraut and Chicken 'n' Dumplings, or any brothy dish, such as beef stew and roasted chicken with gravy. Some people even add them to soup, letting them rest on noodles or other soup ingredients.

1 1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp. parsley flakes, if desired
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. shortening [cold]
3/4 cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add parsley if using. Cut in the [cold] shortening using a pastry blender. Little pieces of shortening should be left. Stir in the milk only until blended; do not over-stir. The batter should be thick enough to be scooped and dropped from a spoon. Add more liquid if the batter is too stiff.

Drop by spoonfuls onto chicken or meat in boiling meat stock (not in liquid). Cook 10 min. uncovered, then 10 min. with the pot covered. Dumplings should be puffed and light. You can use a toothpick to check if dumplings are completely done.

[I test the dumplings by gently sticking a fork in the center of one of them to see if the center is cooked. If the dumpling is gummy, let cook for a few more minutes. A toothpick might also work.]

Makes 6 decent size dumplings

Dumplings from America's Test Kitchens

"Chicken and dumplings make chicken pot pie look easy. There’s no disguising a leaden dumpling. One goal was to develop a dumpling that was light yet substantial, and tender yet durable. . . Dumplings can contain myriad ingredients, and there are just as many different ways to mix them. We tried them all—with disastrous results. But when we stumbled on a unique method of adding warm liquid rather than cold to the flour and fat, our dumplings were great—firm but light and fluffy. The reason? The heat expands and sets the flour so that the dumplings don’t absorb liquid in the stew. The best-tasting dumplings were made with all-purpose flour, whole milk, and the chicken fat left from browning the chicken."

Note: We strongly recommend buttermilk for the dumplings, but it’s acceptable to substitute 1/2 cup plain yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold (see note above)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled about 5 minutes
1 large egg white

Whisk flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps; whisk in egg white. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl.

Return stew to simmer; stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Using greased tablespoon measure (or #60 portion scoop), scoop level amount of batter and drop over top of stew, spacing about 1/4 inch apart (you should have about 24 dumplings). Wrap lid of Dutch oven with clean kitchen towel (keeping towel away from heat source) and cover pot. Simmer gently until dumplings have doubled in size and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 13 to 16 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serves 6