For me, Kleppe Soup is the best food of my childhood!  (we always said Kreppe Soup in my house but I have no idea why). 

What is Kleppe Soup?

Comfort Food!

It’s a creamy milk soup with the most amazing dumplings ever!  My dad would tell us about his mom making it for them on the farm when money was especially tight.  It’s a simple soup, but pretty filling, so it goes a long way with a large family to feed.  

Versatile!

My husband and brother-in-law are always saying it would be better with meat in it, like ham chunks or something.  I mean, I guess that would work.  My dad like to add these dumplings to chicken noodle soup or beef vegetable soup, when he made that.  And of course, we ALWAYS had these dumplings in our beef stew!  

The Dumplings!

These dumplings are straight-up AMAZING!  You can easily cook them in boiling water or stock if you’re worried about the milk base not getting hot enough to cook them through.  Super easy to find your own best method!

Holiday Memories!

My brother Brad always makes this soup for us as a starter for our Christmas dinner.  It’s a great way to share our childhood traditions with our kids!

He used to struggle with the size of his dumplings and we thought it was from the whisking of the milk to keep it from burning to the pan that was breaking up the dumplings.  He began having me watch him making them to see what could be done to make the dumplings bigger, like my dad used to make them.  It turns out he just wasn’t using enough flour.  Now sometimes I get too much flour in there and have to add a little more milk so the flour flavor isn’t at the forefront, but that’s not a big deal.

This year my daughter was in town to help us make the soup.

The Milk Base!

My dad always swore that you HAD to use Whole milk or it would burn to the bottom due to lack of butter fat.  He also added butter to it.  However, my brother uses 1% or 2% but still adds the butter and has no issues.  I will say that it might be a bit richer if you use whole milk, which can be really delicious!  

When Brad and I are making the soup at Christmas, he whisks the milk over the heat and we take turns smelling it.  YES, I said smelling it!  As the milk heats, it develops a delightful aroma that builds.  We know the milk has heated enough for the dumplings when we smell it.  You could probably just use a thermometer, however, and start adding the dumplings around 170 degrees.  Constantly stir the milk mixture until it’s ready for dumplings and then turn the heat down so it doesn’t burn.  You can add more butter just before dropping in the dumplings if you want.

Drop the dumplings in with a spoon (dip your spoon in the hot milk to keep the batter from sticking to the spoon) one at a time.  Spread them out and give a bit of a pause in between so they don’t get all clumped together.  Once they are all in, you can cover the pot and turn the heat way down to let them simmer for AT LEAST 10 minutes, possibly longer if you do a double batch of dumplings, like we do – sometimes we get nuts and make a triple batch!  That does take longer to cook though.  

Ingredients:

Soup:

2 quarts whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

Dumplings:

2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar 
1/2 cup milk
Enough flour for fairly stiff dough (2-3 cups, at least)

Directions:

Start by preparing the dumplings. In a mixing bowl, combine the dumpling ingredients.  Note:  one of my brothers makes this with not enough flour (1-1 1/2 cups) and his dumplings are small.  I use a LOT more flour and my dumplings are quite large but take longer to cook through.  Experiment to find which you prefer.

In a large saucepan, combine the milk and butter. Place the pan over medium-high heat to scald the milk, whisking constantly so it doesn’t burn.  Add the salt and turn down the heat so it doesn’t boil over as you add the dumplings.

Once the milk and water are simmering, add the dumplings to the pot. They will initially sink to the bottom.

When the dumplings start to float to the surface, they should be close to cooked through, depending on the size. This usually takes about 5-7 minutes. Note:  I often boil the dumplings in water or broth first to avoid burning my milk base while waiting for them to cook.  Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water or broth and transfer them to the milk pot.

To serve, ladle the creamy milk soup into bowls.

I only add salt and pepper when I eat it.  Some people add cinnamon and sugar for a sweeter taste, which might be ok to try.  My brother ALWAYS insists on having crackers with the soup, but I don’t need them.

Enjoy!