Dumplings are lovely widely and homemade dumpling wrappers can make the dumplings to the next level. It is extremely simple to make dumpling wrappers at home with a homemade dumpling wrapper dough, all needed are flour, water, and salt. With this dumpling wrapper recipe, you can achieve better than restaurant dumplings at home.
Why try homemade dumpling wrappers
Dumplings are the most symbolized Chinese food for Chinese New Year. We have ample access to machine-made store-bought dumpling wrappers. And yes, store-bought dumpling wrappers can save lots of time and energy. But making your own dumpling wrappers at home is a quite rewarding family activity during the holiday and it creates much stronger wrappers. And you can use homemade wrappers to create creative dumpling foldings. So I hope you can have a try. Just follow the instructions. This can be interesting. Many of the yummy dishes use dumpling wrappers as the main ingredients like boiled dumplings, potstickers, steamed dumplings, or shumai.
There are two major parts of the process, make a dumpling wrapper dough and circle the wrappers. The first part is quite easy while the second part needs some practice.
Video
📋 What you will need
The basic components for regular dumpling wrappers are water and flour, so it is a wheat flour-based dough. Sometimes salt is added to make the wrapper chewier and more strong to avoid breaking in the cooking process. So the list can be quite short.
- a large operating board
- all-purpose flour
- water, use room temperature or warm water | hot water is only for steamed dumplings
- salt , optional. Adding a very small amount brings no salty flavor to the wrappers but can strengthen the wrapper a lot.
- a rolling pin – choose your favorite one.
There is no need to buy “dumpling wrapper dough”, all-purpose flour with the right range of protein can work fine for dumpling wrappers. Don’t use bread flour because strong gluten will make the rolling process quite hard to handle.
Make a dumpling dough by hand
1. Mix salt if using with flour in a bowl. You may see chefs make this process on board. But the bow method is much easier for beginners. Stir the flour with chopsticks with one hand when the water is poured with the other hand. Mix them for a while until the water is almost absorbed and the floccus texture forms.
2. Transfer the dough to the operating board, and continue kneading for 2-3 minutes until the surface is almost smooth. It is ok if you can’t knead the dough to smooth one time. If you feel tired, just cover the dough in whatever form it is, and let it rest for 15 minutes. After resting, continue kneading the dough will be much easier. Then continue kneading until the dough gets a very smooth surface.
3. Then cover the dough and let it rest for 30 to 45 minutes. Resting can relax the gluten and soften the dough. This is a preparation step for the rolling process. If the dough is too hard and firm, it will be quite hard to roll out. If you are in a hurry, at least make sure the dumpling dough is rested for 30 minutes. Remember to cover the dough either with a bowl or a cloth during all resting times.
The dough kneading process can be finished by a stand mixer, Simply add all the ingredients in a stand mixer and then knead for 6-8 minutes. You need to shape it into a round ball too before resting.
Roll out the wrapper
Make a hole in the center of the dumpling dough with fingers and then stretch and rotate with two wrists so the circle becomes larger and thinner, finally ending with a 3cm in diameter log circle.
Cut the circle into two logs. Then roll each one backward and forwards with force until the surface becomes very smooth and the log becomes firm. This step is extremely important and can save you lots of time in re-kneading the single dough piece.
This can save you lots of time from kneading single dumpling pieces.
Then divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 12g). Every single log should be divided into 20 to 22 pieces.
I recommend rotating the log between each cutting so the small dough pieces can line up in two queues, which can avoid them sticking to each other.
Dust each of them to prevent sticky problems.
This process might be quite challenging at the very beginning. Rolling out dumpling wrappers is not as difficult as it might seem. With a little practice, you’ll be able to get the perfect thickness and shape for your dumplings.
Before rolling out your dumpling wrappers, dust your working surface again. Take one piece of dough and press it to a round disc with the palm. Hold the wrapper with your left hand and hold the rolling pin with your right hand. Rotate the wrapper when moving the rolling pin. The wrappers will have thicker centers and thinner edges naturally. The wrapper should be around 8cm to 10cm in diameter. Check the video for details.
Do a small batch (6-10 wrappers for beginners) and wrap them firstly, (you can check how to fold dumplings for more details about how to make the pleats. Otherwise, the wrapper becomes too soft to handle very quickly. The best working process is to get assistants to help assemble the dumplings.
Cooking tips
- The dumpling dough should be well kneaded until smooth on the surface and well rested.
- The two logs cut from the dough circle should be rolled back and forth until very firm and smooth on the surface.
- Keep dusting the operating board and the wrapper to avoid sticky problems. Lightly, please.
- Make a smaller batch each time and then wrap it with filling.
- Cover the rest of the dough pieces if you need a longer rolling time to avoid drying out.
How to keep the wrappers
If you have leftover dumpling wrappers, lightly dust each of them and then freeze them in an air-tight bag. Next time before using, rest for around 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature until soften back.
Wonton Wrapper VS Dumpling Wrapper
Although they may look like coming from the same dough, they are not the same. Both of the wrappers are wheat-based dough. But wonton wrappers are much thinner and thus needs extra ingredient to strengthen the gluten. Sometimes wonton dough includes duck eggs and sometimes lye solution. So wonton wrappers might be light yellow in color. Dumpling wrappers are thicker than wonton wrappers, and of course stronger. So we can wrap firm vegetables inside the wrappers. For wontons, we only use protein.
Cold water VS warm water
Actually, both cold water and warm water can work fine for dumpling wrappers. But the texture might be different. Cold water dumpling dough produces chewier and stronger wrappers. While warm water dumpling dough gets you softer wrappers. It is just a personal choice. But the temperature of the water should not exceed 60 degrees C.
Dumpling fillings
- Chive and pork
- Roasted eggplants with coriander (vegan-friendly)
- Cabbage potstickers
- Vegan mushroom potstickers
Dumpling Wrappers
Equipment
- Operating board
- Flour for dusting
- Rolling Pin
- some friend to help wrap the dumpling
Ingredients
- 300 g all-purpose flour , 2 cups ( dip and sweep method)
- 150 ml water + 10 ml more for adjusting , room temperature
- 1/2 tsp. salt ,2g
Instructions
Make the dumpling dough
- Mix salt if using with flour within a bow. Stir the flour with chopsticks with one hand when the water is poured by the other hand. Mix them for a while until the water is almost absorbed and floccus texture formed.
- Transfer the dough to the operating board, continue kneading for 2-3 minutes until the surface is almost smooth. It is ok if you can't knead the dough to smooth one time. If you feel tired, just cover the dough whatever form it is and let it rest for 15 minutes. After the resting, continue kneading the dough will be much easier. Then continue kneading until the dough gets very smooth surface.
- Then cover the dough and let is rest for 30 to 45 minutes. Resting can relax the gluten and soften the dough. This is a preparation step for the rolling process. If the dough is too hard and firm, it will be quite hard to roll out. If you are in a hurry, at least make sure the dumpling dough is rest for 30 minutes. Remember to cover the dough either with a bowl or a cloth during all resting time.
Divide into small dough pieces
- Cut the circle in into two logs. Then roll each one backwards and forwards with force until the surface becomes very smooth and the log becomes firm. This step is extremely important and can save you lots of time in re-kneading the single dough piece.
- Then divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 12g). Each of the two single log should be divided into 20 to 22 pieces. So we should have around 20 to 44 wrappers.
Rolling out the wrapper
- Dust each of small dough piece to prevent sticky problems. Before rolling out your dumpling wrappers, dust your working surface again. Take one piece of dough and press it to a round disc. Hold the wrapper with your left hand and hold the rolling pin with right hand. Rotate the wrapper when moving the rolling pin. Repeat the process, rotate the roll. The wrappers will have thicker center and thinner edges naturally. The wrapper should be around 8cm to 10cm in diameter. Check video for details.
- Do a small batch (6-10 wrappers for beginners) and wrap them firstly, (you can check how to fold dumplings for more details about how to make the pleats. Otherwise the wrapper becomes too soft to handle very quickly. The best working process is to get assistants to help assembling the dumplings.
Thank you! It came out good for my dumplings but, once they are formed is it okay to freeze some and if so how will this affect cooking them later? I prefer to boil rather than fry.
It is best to boil frozen dumplings. If you want to pan-frying, you need to steam it firstly before pan-frying.
what speed did you use for the stand mixer?
I use the lowest two speed choice.
Hi Elaine,
I always come back to your site every year for the mooncake recipe! It is wonderful and you helped me a lot then too 🙂
I would like to ask- I have been trying to make dumpling wrappers for ages now and they keep coming out doughy- what am I doing wrong? They aren’t easy to bite through like normal dumpling wrappers; they taste like pulled ban mee noodles (not sure if you are familiar; I’m from Malaysia and this is a common dish), quite thick.
When I boil as well, it does not become transparent- it goes more yellow and the outside gets patches of white. 🙁 I am not sure what I am doing wrong, please help!
The dough is still not well kneaded. If kneading large dough is hard, you can cut the dough into small portions and re-knead for several times to see whether it work or not.
Hi Elaine! I have tried to make these multiple times and they have come out doughy every time- what am I doing wrong? They do not become smooth and transparent when cooked; they become more yellow, poofy and sometimes get patches of white on the surface when boiled. Could you please help me!!
Thank you!
Jasmine,
The dough is not kneaded well. Well-kneaded dough should be shinning and lighter than the original color. Are you kneading it by hand or use a stand mixer?
Hi Elaine!
I always make the mooncake recipe on your blog every year for my parents, and it makes them very happy 🙂
However I have been trying to make dumplings multiple times, but for some reason I still cannot get it right. My skin is very doughy and when boiled, does not turn transparent or delicate; it turns kind of stodgy and yellow, with white patches on it… I have tried kneading with a stand mixer, letting it rest for a few hours, all-purpose or plain flour, more and less flour- but it doesn’t seem to be working. Please do you have any advice?? 🙁
Jasmine,
The problem might be still the kneading issue. I suggest you kneading the divided dough for a while to see whether it can create better texture?
Hi Elaine,
I always make your mooncake recipe every year and it comes out wonderfully! However I am having so much trouble with the dumpling wrappers…
I have been trying to make dumplings multiple times, but for some reason I still cannot get it right. My skin is very doughy and when boiled, does not turn transparent or delicate; it turns kind of stodgy and yellow, with white patches on it… I have tried kneading with a stand mixer, letting it rest for a few hours, all-purpose or plain flour, more and less flour- but it doesn’t seem to be working. Please do you have any advice?? 🙁
Hi Jasmine,
Thanks for trying and for the feedback. If the wrapper is still smooth on the surface, the main problem is still the dough kneading. I suggest you re-kneading the divided dumpling wrapper dough for around half minute before rolling out. This may helps but it will take larger times. A better way is to knead the dough very well until it is very smooth and a little bit lighter in color.