Whole wheat dumpling wrappers are a healthier alternative to regular white wrappers. This recipe includes instructions for the wrappers only, but check out the post for links to our other dumpling recipes to make the whatever filling you like!
Experimenting with Homemade Dumpling Wrappers
Before starting The Woks of Life, we were a store-bought dumpling wrapper family. Any time we’d plan on making a big batch of dumplings, we would have to remember to go to the Asian supermarket to buy packaged dumpling wrappers, and try to guesstimate how many packs we needed.
But the great thing about being a food blogger is, you’re pushed to experiment with things that you may not have otherwise thought to try.
When a reader asked us for a homemade dumpling wrapper recipe, we gave it a go, and now several of our favorite dumpling recipes feature homemade wrappers. These recipes include our Vegetable Dumplings, Chicken & Mushroom Dumplings, and Pork & Chive Dumplings.
As it turns out, we LOVE the texture and taste of homemade dumpling wrappers. They have a bit more chew than your store-bought variety, and if you underestimated the amount you’d need for the amount of filling that you already made, you can always whip up another batch quickly and easily. Because all it is is two ingredients: flour and water.
A Whole Wheat Alternative
Usually, I use regular all purpose flour for my dumpling wrappers. But like that first blog commenter who inspired us to give homemade wrappers a go, another commenter asked us about how to make whole wheat dumpling wrappers. Presumably for a health boost and perhaps the nutty flavor that whole wheat flour brings to the table.
Well, we tried it, and here’s the result! This whole wheat dumpling wrapper recipe uses ALL whole wheat flour, but if you’d like to get a slightly smoother texture, you can do a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat, and find the ratio that works the best for you.
You’ll notice that we need more water for the amount of flour here (when compared to 3 1/2 cups of flour to about 1 cup of water when using regular all-purpose flour). That’s because the whole wheat flour is quite a bit dryer and coarser, and needs more moisture to form a dough.
This recipe makes 3 dozen whole wheat dumpling wrappers!
Whole Wheat Dumpling Wrappers: Recipe Instructions
Put the flour in a bowl, and add the water slowly, stirring as you go. Add the water in several phases, giving the flour enough time to absorb the moisture.
Add just enough water to form a moist, but not sticky dough. You may need more or less than 1 cup of water, depending on ambient conditions like humidity.
Once you have your dough, knead it for 3 minutes, sprinkling with more flour if it becomes too sticky. Form the dough into a ball, and cover with an overturned bowl. Allow it to rest of 2 hours.
After the dough has rested, divide into 36 equal pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into a circle, and fill with your favorite dumpling filling. Pleat each dumpling and ensure that they are tightly sealed before freezing, steaming, or frying.
For full instructions on pleating, check out our article on How to Fold Dumplings (4 techniques, from beginner to advanced).
You’ll notice that this whole wheat dumpling wrapper dough is a bit drier than regular dumpling dough, but it’s still quite easy to work with!
I fried up a batch, so that you can see how they turn out. To pan-fry them, add a couple tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil to a non-stick or cast iron pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the dumplings.
Once the bottoms have turned a golden brown, pour in enough water so that it reaches a centimeter up the pan, cover, and steam the dumplings until all the water has cooked off.
You can also steam or boil these dumplings. For full instructions on how to cook dumplings by steaming, pan-frying, or boiling, check out our full tutorial.
I made a pork and chive filling for the batch pictured, but if you want more ideas on what kind of filling to pair these whole wheat dumpling wrappers with, here are a few of our favorites:
Pork & Vegetable Dumplings (aka the first dumpling recipe we ever published on the site!)
The filling for the Pork & Cabbage Dumplings is super easy!
Filling for the Chicken & Mushroom Dumplings has a deep earthy mushroom flavor!
Filling for the Chicken & Zucchini Dumplings and yes, that is crispy chicken skin!
Filling for the Vegetable Dumplings is vegetarian and totally tasty!
Once you choose your filling and made dumplings with these whole wheat dumpling wrappers, make our traditional dumpling sauce to top off your homemade dumplings
Hope you try some of our other filling recipes with this whole wheat dumpling wrappers. Happy dumpling making!
Whole Wheat Dumpling Wrappers
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (plus more for rolling)
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Put the flour in a bowl, and add the water slowly, stirring as you go. Add the water in several phases, giving the flour enough time to absorb the moisture. Add just enough water to form a moist, but not sticky dough. You may need more or less than 1 cup of water, depending on ambient conditions like humidity.
- Once you have your dough, knead it for 3 minutes, sprinkling with more flour if it becomes too sticky. Form the dough into a ball, and cover with an overturned bowl. Allow it to rest of 2 hours.
- After the dough has rested, divide into 36 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a circle, and fill with your favorite dumpling filling. Pleat each dumpling and ensure that they are tightly sealed before freezing or frying.
Tips & Notes:
nutrition facts
Whole wheat/All-purpose blend… the no-stress compromise!
I was pleased with the standard dumpling wrap from WOL, so I tried this with the last dregs of a bag of whole wheat flour. I did about 3/4 C whole wheat and 1 1/4 C all-purpose. The results were almost indistinguishable from all-regular-flour ones, with only a touch of wheatiness because I knew it was there. I used them to make pot stickers, and they came out great after freezing and cooking.
Thank you for sharing that! That’s a great idea—balancing texture and adding a little bit more nutrition.