Old World Poppy Seed Roll Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Old World Poppy Seed Roll Recipe
  • READY IN ABOUT 3 hrs

Old World Poppy Seed Roll

Read Reviews (11)

"Tender, soft, sweet yeast bread swirled with a creamy homemade poppy seed filling. Growing up, my mother and aunts always made this Eastern European bread for Easter and Christmas. Looks complicated but is easy enough to make for an old-world treat. I like it best after the second day." —  

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Original recipe makes 2 filled loaves Change Servings
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Directions

  1. Place poppy seeds into a food processor and process until seeds are ground, about 1 minute.
  2. Mix poppy seeds with 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, lemon juice, and hot milk in a bowl; stir to combine. Cover poppy seed filling and refrigerate while making bread (filling will set up and thicken as it chills).
  3. Mix yeast with water and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Allow to stand until the yeast forms a creamy layer.
  4. Whisk flour with salt in a bowl; use a pastry cutter to cut 1/4 cup butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  5. Pour yeast mixture and egg yolk into flour mixture and stir to make a soft dough.
  6. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth and slightly springy, about 5 minutes. If dough is too sticky, knead in more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time.
  7. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
  8. Spread half the poppy seed filling over each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold the 1-inch border back over the filling on all sides and press down.
  9. Pick up the shorter side of a dough rectangle and roll it like a jelly roll; repeat with second rectangle. Pinch ends together or tuck ends under to prevent filling from leaking out.
  10. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; place rolls seam sides down on the baking sheet and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
  11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  12. Beat egg white in a bowl until frothy; brush the rolls with beaten egg white.
  13. Bake in preheated oven until dark golden brown on top, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cover rolls with a clean kitchen towel until cool to keep crust soft. Cool completely before slicing.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 20 mins
  • COOK 30 mins
  • READY IN 2 hrs 50 mins
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Reviews More Reviews

Nov 14, 2012

I made this recipe at the request of a friend except I used a traditional walnut filling instead of poppyseed because I did not have poppyseeds on hand. The recipe measurements are dead-on accurate. The dough has a brioche type texture. I found it to be soft and sweet and easy to work with. I had no problems rolling it and found that extra flour was not needed (get it, kneaded). During the hour it rested I kept it uncovered in my oven on proof. I would like to make this again using the poppyseed filling and will try substituting half the water out that is called for to make the dough with milk for even richer dough. Great recipe!

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Nov 15, 2012

This dough is awesome! So easy to work with and turned out great. I cheated on the poppy seed filling and used canned.. But this dough recipe is definitely a keeper

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12 Ratings

Dec 02, 2012

Thank you, thank your mother and your aunt! This is indeed the old world recipe. I never thought I would find one better than mine. Until now! Perfection! I love this sweetbread, can you tell? ;)

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Jan 07, 2013

I used to buy poppy seed rolls at a local farmer's market...and marvelled at their deliciousness and seeming difficulty to make. I am so glad I found this recipe! A Polish friend requested a poppy roll for Christmas and so I experimented. Found this recipe and (thanks to all the previous reviewers!) tried this one as it had the best ratings and looked easy and sensible as well. Since we have an eggless kitchen I omitted the egg (added a half tb of cornstarch into the dough and rubbed the loaf with butter and cornstarch prior to baking), also used 9oz of poppy seeds, 2 tb extra of sugar in both the filling and the dough. It came out amazing! A Russian and a Pole at dinner both told me it was the best poppy seed roll they ever had. I loved it too and made more for presents...definitely a keeper! I'm now experimenting with whole wheat and sourdough versions. Awesome recipe! Thanks!

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Mar 22, 2013

Same recipe as I have lost long ago - on an old label from poppy seed filling from a Polish Store, that always turned out well for me. The only difference that I have noticed was the butter melted and cooled to be added to yeast instead of working it in with a pastry knife, as in this recipe. Many thanks for posting!

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Mar 13, 2013

This was just incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I saw it was a yeast dough, I had second thoughts but it was so easy to put together and the dough came out perfect and trust me I am not any kind of dough expert. I used canned poppy seed filling and used a butter knife to spread it all over the inside to just about 1" from the edge and it came out so good baked just as the recipe said. This is definitely a KEEPER. THANK YOU for sharing it with the world!!!!! Right up there for holiday traditional sweetbread for us!!!!!!

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Jan 15, 2013

I thought this recipe was fantastic, especially the bread. It was extremely easy to make (I haven't baked like this since high school 15 years ago). Poppyseed in my opinion is rather expensive, and though my husband raved about the poppyseed filling, I found it bitter compared to a canned variety I used for comparison. However, the bread is quite versatile and tasted wonderful with a raspberry filling! Did I mention how easy the dough is to work with? Thank you so much for this recipe!

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Dec 23, 2012

It seemed to take a lot longer to rise to double in bulk than the one hour. I let mine rise 2 hours, and it was a little flat still. I could blame the yeast. I will try it again, because the dough was good and I used a can of poppy seed filling and it was very easy.

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 216 kcal
  • 11%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 26.8 g
  • 9%
  • Cholesterol
  • 23 mg
  • 8%
  • Fat
  • 10.6 g
  • 16%
  • Fiber
  • 1.9 g
  • 8%
  • Protein
  • 5 g
  • 10%
  • Sodium
  • 109 mg
  • 4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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