Poppy Seed Rolls make for the perfect breakfast, snack or dessert. This recipe is amazing because it requires NO rising time.
Poppy Seed Rolls in a flash? That’s right. Without having to wait for the rising time, you can have bakery fresh pastries on the table in under an hour!
Poppy Seed Rolls are stuffed with a sweet and crunchy filling that is seriously to-die-for. While poppy seeds are no stranger to American baking, they are IMMENSELY popular in Polish and Ukrainian baking.
Some of the best memories I have as a child include gobbling up these delicious rolls. Now that I am an adult, I like to pair them with a nice cup of coffee or mug of tea. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback in the comments below!
How to Make Poppy Seed Rolls
- Use fresh yeast. A common mistake I see bakers make is using yeast that has been sitting around for too long. It’s important to keep tabs on the expiration dates on your yeast to prevent your rolls from turning out dense and flat.
- Make sure your milk is at perfect temperature. To make sure all the sugar dissolves and you set the stage for a nice, custardy texture, get your milk to the right temp before dissolving in your sugar.
- Add your flour slowly. Add your flour in small portions for easier mixing. Depending on the brand you use, you may need more or less. The dough should be sticky, yet elastic and easy to to work with!
- Get your “knead” on. Knead the dough long enough to achieve the desired texture. When using a standing mixer, like a KitchenAid, this takes about 10 minutes.
- Give the rolls space! When placing your rolls on the baking sheet, make sure to leave some space in between. They will double in size and you don’t want them sticking together.
- Make it golden. Brush the tops of your rolls with egg to give them a nice and shiny, bakery-worthy top!
Poppy Seed Filling
A great poppy seed filling really makes or breaks this recipe. In my opinion, the more filling the better! You will find, however, that some bakers like a thin layer. Whatever suits your taste buds is the route you should follow!
If you have never tried poppy seed filling before, you are probably wondering what the heck it is! Simply put, it’s a custard like filling made with, you guessed it, poppy seeds! It also contains sugar, eggs, butter and a pinch of salt. The end result is delectably sweet and earthy filling. Be prepared to get some poppy seeds stuck in your teeth! But, trust me, it’s worth it…
Depending on the energy and time you want to spend, you have TWO options for making your way to a great filling. Try your hand at making my poppy seed filling recipe or head to the nearest Eastern European grocery store. You can also purchase some filling online.
Storing Poppy Seed Rolls
Room Temperature
After you bake your poppy seed rolls, let them cool down completely. Store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag to keep them fresh for longer. Leave ‘em right on the counter and they will stay fresh for up to five days.
Hot Tip: If your rolls become stale faster, reheat them in the microwave or oven to soften them up again!
Freezing Piroshki
After forming your poppy seed rolls, freeze them raw on a baking sheet. Once they are completely hard and frozen, remove them from the baking sheet and store them in a Ziploc bag or airtight container. When you are ready to bake, allow the rolls to completely thaw in the fridge overnight. Then, bake according to directions!
Other Russian Piroshki to Try:
- Fruit Piroshki Recipe – a childhood classic filled with jam or any other fruit filling!
- Savory Piroshy – These fried Piroshki are amazing, filled with ground meat and onions.
- Vatrushka Buns– They are to die for, filled with farmers cheese and raisins.
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Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine lukewarm milk with yeast and sugar. Let yeast dissolve for 5 minutes. Add salt, melted margarine and oil. Using a dough hook, mix in flour in small portion.
- Knead the dough for about 15 minutes, until it’s elastic and not sticky.
- Dust your counter with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin to very thin rectangle. Brush it with whisked egg, this makes poppy seed stick to the dough. Spread even thin layer of poppy seeds.
- Roll up the shorter side, making it into a long string. Flour knife and cut them into 2 inch pieces.
- Place them on baking sheet covered with parchment paper, leaving about an inch of space in between each one. Repeat until you run out of dough.
- Preheat the oven to 300 °F. Brush tops of piroshky with wisked eggs. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown.
For making savory piroshki can I sub flour for sugar in the dough recipe?
When pressed for time I've bought the frozen dough, but this dough is so easy to handle I'd like to try it!
I've made, and love, the poppyseed roll! Just like my grandmother's recipe, but simpler!
Thanks!
Hi Niki - I'm glad you love the poppyseed roll recipe and it reminds you of your grandma's! That's really cool. For savory piroshky, I would actually use this recipe instead: https://momsdish.com/recipe/4….
Hope this helps! Let us know if you have any questions.
This was my first time baking anything with yeast and the rolls came out so delicious. Thank you Nataliya for an easy and delicious recipe. 😋
Hi Tanya- so glad you enjoyed this recipe, thank you for commenting!
I made these today and they were ABSOLUTELY delicious!! Everyone went on about them. Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
You're welcome, Vita! Thanks for commenting.
Is there a typo in this recipe? 7 1/2 cups of flour seems like way too much and my dough was absolutely awful.
Hi Cassandra- I'm sorry the dough didn't come out. Correct, 7.5 cups is what the recipe calls for although depending on the brand of flour you may need less- just until the dough is not sticky anymore. Hope this helps!
This did not work out for me. It's edible but not something I would serve. Not sure if the milk was too warm, the oven temp too low or that I left them in the oven for too long. Is the oven temp really supposed to be 300 degrees?
Hi Roxanne- I'm sorry to hear they didn't come out. That is correct, oven temperature should be 300°. Can you please tell me what went wrong exactly? Perhaps I can help troubleshoot.
hello. Is the egg essential in the dough? What could I use as a substitute or omit completely? Hubby is vegan.
Hi Karen- I haven't tried omitting or substituting the egg before. I don't think the recipe would be the same without it. I have heard of using flax seed in place of eggs but without having tried it in this recipe, I cannot guarantee any results. Please let us know what you decide to do and how it turns out if you end up omitting or substituting the egg somehow!
Darn…I used regular yeast
Hi Stephanie- by regular yeast do you mean active dry? If so, that's totally fine! Both active dry or instant yeast will work for this recipe. Enjoy!
I made these for Christmas. They were delicious! I was wondering if I could use this recipe to make cinnamon rolls?
Hi, Glyn! So glad you enjoyed my poppy seed roll recipe. For best results with cinnamon rolls, I would actually recommend using my no-knead cinnamon rolls recipe! If you search for "cinnamon rolls" on my site, you'll see the recipe come right up. Enjoy!
I did try the poppy seed dough with the cinnamon sugar recipe from your cinnamon roll recipe. They were delicious but needed more cinnamon. I love this dough but will try your cinnamon roll dough next time!
Hi Glyn, I'm so glad it worked out! Happy cooking!
I have extra dough and not enough filling. Any other options for filling or how to use it up?
Hello, Oksana! You can use jam or preserves for the rest of the dough if you'd like! Apricot, raspberry, strawberry would all be delicious!
I'm looking forward to trying these. I have my mom's recipe which came from my grandmother, for Vanushka or Babovka or simply kolache dough rolled into a loaf. It's much more complicated and rests in the fridge overnight. I have a special mixture for poppyseed filling I'll try with these. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome, Larry! Let me know how it turns out. Poppy seed filling is such a must and so tasty. Hope you love these rolls!
Can I use instant yeast? How much should I use? Thank you.
You can! The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon. Thanks, Mila!
How many grams of fresh yeast shall I use instead of dry yeast to make poppy seed rolls?
Hi Dorothy - Thanks for reaching out! You'll need roughly 3X more fresh yeast than dry yeast. So if you need 1 tbsp of dry yeast for the recipe, you'll need 3 tbsp of fresh yeast. Hope this helps!
Do you have any suggestions for an almond glaze for these? My husband is obsessed with almond and poppyseed together and these look perfect as long as I can add some almond in somewhere.
Hi Erica - I wish! That sounds super good, but I've never tried it. I would maybe do something simple with powdered sugar and almond extract? Let me know what you try and how it turns out.
Almond...I add almond flavoring to the poppyseed as my mother did. And I use organic raisins...that's just the way I learned it! Love the almond flavor!
Yummmmmm! That sounds AMAZING. Thanks for sharing.
I made these today and they are delicious. My problem was that I could not slice the roll without smashing it. My rolls are unattractive but yummy. Any suggestions?
Use dental floss. Slide under the roll, place in position wher you want to cut/divide and pull the two ends together.
Hi Gail - What a smart suggestion! I would have never thought of that. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Gail, They are should fluff up as they bake even if you smash them. But if you use a very sharp knife, it should work just fine. Hope this helps. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback.
Yes...strange as it sounds, dental floss works really well! I hame a sticky bun from croissant dough and use dental floss to cut them! Good luck!
Hey! Whatever works, right? I love hearing about people's special kitchen tricks.
Can they be made with crescent dough sheets?
Hey Lana, I think you can but the dough is not the same so the texture will not be the same. But either way, it sounds delish! 🙂
I have been trying for years to find a poppy seed roll as good as the ones we had growing up from local bakeries. This is it. Delicious. The filling recipe is enough for the full dough recipe. I made a half batch of individual rolls last week and a half batch as two logs to use the rest of the filling yesterday. I used your filling recipe. There is plenty of poppy seed in both batches. I subbed half the flour for whole wheat yesterday.. Thank you. My siblings and I have been missing this and now they're baking it too.
Carol, I'm so glad this recipe has worked out for you, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback!
Can you make them with chocolate? How?
Hey Wanda, I do need to test a few options. There might be away. But you can check out our babka recipe, the concept is very similar. https://momsdish.com/chocolat…
I made these with regular butter and instant yeast, they were delicious! They rose a lot in the oven and I wonder if I accidentally added a little bit too much yeast. But they were delicious!!! And so easy to make. Thank you for this recipe, I'll be making these all the time now.
Anna, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for your feedback!!
Hi. May I clarify, 40 g oil or 40 ml oil? Thank you.
Hey Corina, as far as I understand, that measurement would be the same.
Can I use this dough recipe for pirsoshki with tvorog
Hey Christine, yes if you bake them the same way. It should work great. Enjoy
A lot of the poppy seed came out while baking other wise the were good ,we eat poppy seed rolls all year round The dough seamed hard to roll out
Hey, this is an easier version of the rolls. You can try our poppy seed buns, they hold in poppy seeds and have a fluffy dough but the process is more leanghty.
I don’t have margarine- what can be a substitute? Thank you so much in advance
I know some people made it with butter and it worked great for them.
How can I substitute instant yeast for regular yeast in this recipe?
Hi Hellee, yes, you definitely can. Enjoy
Thinking about making these! But are they still gonna be good if I make them a day early and refrigerate them?
Hey Sierra, Yes they can be made a day in advance. I would suggest keeping them sealed in a plastic bag, it will keep them fresh. Refrigerating will make them hard.
Thank you!
Excellent dough and recipe. My family cannot stop eating it. I am Slovak and this roll has always been a tradition in our family. Question: I like making and then baking a full roll but it tends to burst at the side (not at the seam because sealed it with water). Any tricks on how not
To get it to burst? Thank you
My mom always made them like that too and so did I. I got tired of the dough splitting so I now make 2 logs and put them into my cast iron bundt cake pan. Easy!!! Oh and pretty.
Thank you for that tip, Diane!
Makovnik, you should brushed rolled dough with melted butter before you put filling in don't roll it too tight, they bursting on side because they rolled too tight, let them rise after rolling for 15 min and bake, before baking poke them with fork so steam will escape from inside. Hope this will help.
Hey Heidi, I wonder if the poppy seed rolls have been over-proofed and they burst for that reason. Thats the only thing I can think of.
They came out looking just like hers. I was very disappointed in the dough. They were very heavy and dry not like the ones I usually make.
Hi Regina, I am trying to figure out why they would be dry. I think the poppy seed filling must of being dry. What did you use for a filling?
Tried the recipe this morning. I’ve eaten and made poppyseed roll my whole life and love them. One question and one comment. The dough was perfect, light and easy to work with. I rolled out thin but got less than half of the recipe amount. My question is what is the science of baking at 300 for 35 to 40 minutes opposed to a more traditional temp of 350 for a shorter time? Love your recipes..thank you
Hi, because they don’t get much rising time they are able to do that while baking.
Can you use evaporated milk in this recipe should I thin it with water and if so in what amounts?
Hey Kathy, I have never work with evaporated milk in yeast dough. I cant make a good recommendation. If you test it out, please give us some feedback. I would love to learn more.
I love this recipe. Question, what kind of KitchenAid Mixer do you have? After couple of minutes my Stand Mixer tires up, probably time to upgrade 🙂
I have the 6qt. I love it so much. I had it for like 10 years and its still great
I halved all of the ingredients and it was enough to feed a hungry family of four. Young kids (and parents) really enjoyed these as a dessert. Easy recipe , also a GREAT recipe for poppy fill on the other page. Thanks so much, definitely going to save this as a favourite!!
I am so glad you enjoyed them, they really do make for the best dessert.