Quick & Healthy Bierocks
Quick & Healthy Bierocks (homemade Nebraska Runzas)
Featuring a whole-wheat, no-yeast dough, these Swiss Mushroom Bierocks take less than an hour start to finish. They are great for football tailgate parties, potlucks, or Husker ex-pats who miss eating our beloved Runzas. Cassandra Sato, the main character in Death by Dissertation is still iffy on whether she likes Runzas, but she's already addicted to their Frings!!
Servings: 8 Sandwiches
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 Cups Whole wheat flour
- 3 Cups Plain Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Baking powder
- 1 1/2 Tsp Salt
Filling
- 1 Pound Hamburger Browned
- 1 Med Onion Chopped
- 1 Bag Coleslaw mix
- 1 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tsp Oregano
- 1 Tsp Seasoned salt
- 8 Slices Swiss cheese Optional
- 8 Small Baby portobello mushrooms Chopped, Optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Prepare a large baking sheet with foil and cooking spray or parchment paper. (Less clean-up later, you’re welcome.)
- Start the hamburger and onions browning in the largest frying pan you own. You might need 2 medium pans if you don’t have one large enough. If you decide to add the mushrooms, throw them in with the burger and onions.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Add the yogurt and mix until all of the flour is incorporated into a batter. Knead the dough with clean hands until it’s dry and elastic (this will take about 1 minute—if it’s super-sticky, you can always add some extra flour).Then, divide the dough into 8 equal size balls. Using your hands or a rolling pin, spread the dough rounds into ~6”x4” rectangles.
- Once the burger is browned and the onions and mushrooms are soft, add Worcestershire, oregano, seasoned salt, and pepper to taste. Now add the whole package of cabbage to the skillet. It might not all fit at once, but stir the bottom bits to the top frequently until the whole thing is lightly stir-fried and happy. Do not overcook the cabbage.
- Place one slice of Swiss cheese on each of the rolled dough pieces. Some people like American, Provolone, or Pepper Jack cheese instead. Spoon 2 generous spoonfuls of meat on each dough. Roll up the longer sides of the rectangle and pinch them together and then gather the short sides and pinch together. Flip the pinched seams to the bottom. the finished Bierocks should be fairly large and rectangle shaped.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes before serving. They are good plain or with ketchup.
Read more about Nebraska Bierocks in the first Cassandra Sato mystery, Death by Dissertation
Kelly Brakenhoff is an American Sign Language Interpreter and the author of the Cassandra Sato Mystery Series, including Dead End, Death by Dissertation, Dead Week, and Dead of Winter Break. She also writes a children’s picture book series with two books, Never Mind and Farts Make Noise, featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.