Make the dough: In a bowl combine 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix on low speeds until thoroughly combined. Now add the remaining 1 cup of flour adding it gradually to make a soft dough. Lastly, mix in 2 oz of butter until thoroughly combined. The dough should not stick to the sides of the bowl or your hands.. Divide the dough into 2 equal balls.

Cover & rest: cover the bowl with the dough with kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature to relax the gluten in the dough. Rested dough is easier to roll out. The dough can be made a day ahead kept refrigerated until ready to use.

Dice & caramelize - Dice onions. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Add onions and caramelize over medium heat, stirring frequently until golden brown in color. Remove from heat and set aside.

Boil potatoes: Add peeled and quartered potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Boil for about 20 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Do not overcook, this will make the filling runny. Drain the water & mash the potatoes with the potato masher.

Season: Reserve half the onoins for serving. Add the remaining onions and oil to the potatoes. Stir & season with salt & black ground pepper to taste. Take a small amount of the mixture and press it together, it should form a lump. If it does not, add warm milk or oil 1 tablespoon at a time stirring after each addition until the potato filling forms a lump when pressed together.

Roll:

Work with 1 dough ball at a time, keeping the other piece covered to prevent drying.

Dust the rolling pin, and the working surface with some flour. Roll the dough to about 1/8 inches thick, lifting the dough and adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Adding too much flour will make the dough dense & heavy, so only add minimal amount.

Cut out 2-inch circles with either a cookie cutter or an upside-down drinking glass of the same diameter. For larger perogies use a 3-inch cookie cutter or a larger glass.

Collect the scraps around the cut-out circles, knead them together into a ball and keep covered.

Add filling: Add 1 teaspoon of filling to the center of each cutout staying off the edges of the dough. Filling touching the sides will prevent the perogie edges from sealing.

How to seal perogies: bring opposite sides around the filling together at the top, pressing the dough firmly together to seal. Then starting from one side and moving towards the opposite keep pressing the two edges together firmly creating a half-moon shape. If any part of the edge is not pressed firmly enough, the filling will escape through this opening while the perogies are boiling.

Set on a lightly floured baking pan spacing the perogies evenly without touching.

Lastly roll out the scraps and repeat the steps again to create more perogies.

Prep bowl with butter: Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a large bowl and set aside.

Boil the perogies:

Bring 6 quarts water & about 2 tablespoons of salt to a rapid boil over high heat.

Add the perogies several pieces at a time, stirring frequently. Do not boil more than 20-30 pieces at a time or they will be more likely to stick together and overcook.

Once the peogies float to the top and the water comes to a boil again, cook for about 2-4 minutes or until al dante. The perogies should be soft, but still have a little bite to them.

Do not overcook or the perogies will rupture and the filling will escape into the water.

Remove the perogies from the water with a colander or a slotted spoon. Let excess water drip off. Add the perogies to the prepared bowl and leave undisturbed for a minute to let the butter melt and excess steam escape. Then, toss to coat the perogies with butter. Add caramelized onions and toss gently again. Serve right away.

To serve:

Sprinkle with black ground pepper and add a dollop of sour cream.

Optionally, chop some bacon and cook until crispy. Sprinkle the crisped-up bacon over the top of the perogies.

Preheat skillet over medium heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the perogies in one layer and allow each side to crisp up before turning over. Crisp the perogies in batches.

Serve with sour cream, caramelized onions and black ground pepper.

Freeze the perogies on a well-floured baking sheet for about 3-4 hours or until fully frozen.

Then transfer to a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 1 month (for best results). When ready to cook, do not thaw, just add frozen Pierogies to boiling water & follow the instructions on how to cook the perogies.