Chicken & Dumplings are my absolute favorite meal. They are the perfect comfort food. I searched high and low for the perfect recipe.
Then one day I found it. They were perfect. Hubby claims it's his favorite meal.
Warning: This recipe takes some time to make and can be messy! However, it's very worth it!
To turn it into chicken and dumplings, I shred a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking a chicken. To really save on time, I sometimes use canned chicken. I add the chicken at the very end into the sauce.
Cracker Barrel Dumplings
2 C Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 C whole Milk (I use skim)
4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Mix above ingredients, blend them well and turn out on to a floured surface. Knead 4 or five times and divide dough into two parts. Roll out one piece of dough to 1/8" thick and cut into 1"x1 1/2" strips. Place into a large sauce pan that you have place 8 cups of water and 3 chicken bouillon cubes that has been brought to boil and the bouillon cubes have been dissolved. Cook 1 half of dumplings until just about done and strain and set aside. Next finish the other half of the dumplings in the same way. While cooking the dumplings you can prepare the sauce.
Dumpling Sauce
3 Tbsp Butter
4 Tbsp Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 C Whole Milk
2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes (crumbled)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 -3/4 C Dumpling Cooking Liquid (after dumplings have been cooked)
Place butter in medium sauce pan and melt, add salt and flour, stir until thick. Mix sugar with milk, and add to flour mixture a little at a time and stir constantly with a whisk until thick and smooth. Remove from heat. Place cooked dumplings in dumpling sauce and add 1/2 cups of cooking liquid in which the crumbled chicken bouillon cubes have been added and stir gently, Simmer dumplings until blended on low heat. More cooking liquid may be added if needed.