Pumpkin Spice Mashed Potato Knishes with Cranberry Mustard Sauce. It sure is a mouthful, but so are these Thanksgiving knishes!
The late Joan Rivers once proclaimed on Twitter: “Who doesn’t love a knish?”
The context was regarding what Kanye and Kim should name their baby, but as it turns out, not everyone does love a knish.
There are two types of people in this world. Team Knish, and those other guys. And being a proud member of team knish (I’ve got the t-shirt to prove it), I generally don’t trust those other guys. But if they’ve only had a bad knish, I get it.
Knishes can get stale, dry, more in need of mustard than a (kosher) ballpark hotdog. Knishes are best fresh out of the oven, piping hot. With just a smidge of mustard.
Not one to take knish making lightly, I went straight to the source. As luck would have it, Laura Silver, author of Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food, and the world’s leading expert on the knish, was in Austin a few weeks back on her book tour, and I had the honor of introducing her presentation. And probe her on all things knish.
Back to the Thanksgiving knishes. Keep your head in the game, people! I made these into mini knishes. Because mini is adorable. And you can eat more that way. You’re welcome.
And then I topped it all with a cranberry mustard dipping sauce. Which I am definitely going to smother on my post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich. Don’t even try to stop me.

Pumpkin Spice Mashed Potato Knishes with Cranberry Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup vegetable oil or liquid schmaltz
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ½ cups flour sifted (may not need it all)
- For the filling:
- 1 pound russet potatoes
- 1 small white onion small diced
- ¼ cup olive oil or liquid schmaltz plus 1 tablespoon, divided
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg yolk
- For assembly:
- 2 egg yolks for glaze
- For the cranberry Dijon mustard sauce:
- 1 12- ounce bag fresh cranberries
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
- Zest from 1 orange
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Instructions
- First, make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, oil and vinegar. Then add in baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Start adding in flour and kneading until you have a dough that is not sticky but is not falling-apart crumbly. If you add too much flour in, just add a little water. Cover and let rest for at least an hour. Can be refrigerated overnight.
- Then make cranberry sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, ginger, orange zest, sugar, orange juice and water. Bring to a boil while stirring, and then lower to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until cranberries burst and sauce is thick. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. You can save cranberry pieces and eat them over oatmeal or yogurt. Stir in Dijon mustard (you can use more or less mustard to taste) and place in the refrigerator to cool and thicken slightly.
- Now, time to make the knish filling. Wash and peel potatoes and chop into even sized pieces. Add salt, Cover with cold water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes until potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife. While potatoes are cooking, heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon oil or schmaltz. Saute the diced onions until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Then add garlic and saute for another minute. Once potatoes are done, drain and immediately mix in remaining oil, remaining salt, onion, pepper and egg yolk and mash with a potato mashed until combined.
- Now it’s time to assemble! Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. There are many ways to form a knish, but I like to make mini ones. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/8 inch thin. Then cut out using a 3-inch round cookie cutter and remove excess dough. Flatten circles with your palm to form 4-inch circles. Put a tablespoon of filling in each circle and fold up four sides and pinch the corners together. Fold edges over to one side and carefully secure to form a ball. Mix 2 egg yolks with a splash of water and brush all over knishes. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown, and serve hot with cranberry Dijon mustard sauce.
This recipe originally appear in The Jewish Week!
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What are your thoughts about making these in pre-made bureka dough? I have a feeling it might be delish!
I think it would be amazing!!
Hi. The directions say orange juice but the recipe doesn’t list it. How much OJ for the mustard sauce?
Thanks
Oops! Updated!
Thank you.
Jew Rock Amy!!
Jew do!