Polish Poppy Seed Rolls - Food Wishes 

That's a great recipe! Some tips for people who'd like to try this: Polish poppy seed filling usually includes chopped raisins and walnuts, just throw a handful of each into the mixture. The glaze is usually made with powdered sugar and lemon juice. It should be much thicker than the one in the video and applied when the rolls are still a bit warm. And if you sprinkle some candied orange zest over the top, you'll end up with the essential Polish Christmas roll.

I’m going to be honest Chef John, I will never make or eat these but you’re basically a bedtime story at the moment 👍

Dear Chef John, I live in Kraków in Poland and I approve Your Polish Poppy Seed Rolls we call these Drożdżówki z makiem , so You made them 100% authentic 😊 Yes I know the pronouciation is challenging 😉 Greetings from a Danish Girl 🇩🇰living in Poland 🇵🇱

Poppy seeds are delicious. They are much more smooth and rich when ground. Simmer them slowly and give them lots of time to rest to absorb the milk. I always grind a batch in small portions in a spice blender. Here in Germany you can buy precooked ground poppy seeds in the super market. But it tastes awful loaded with way too much sugar and artificial flavouring. Better to make your own mixture. I often add a shot of dark Rum and prune jam as sweetener. Chopped almonds or walnuts are a good addition too, rum soaked currants. Good in a Babka, in cornets, two layered cheesecake, traybake with Streusel mixed in pound cake or a hazelnut poppy seed cake. You can mix the ground and cooked seeds in runny vanilla custard and spread the sauce over steamed yeast dough dumplings. I never heart of any one who had problems with the police after consuming a piece of poppy seed cake. But you may be at risk to end up quite heavy eating too many poppy seed pastries: Low in Opium but high on fat.

When I was a kid (1960's), a local bakery used to offer something called Poppy Strudel Cake. The log you see in this video would have been wound into a coil and when baked and cooled would have been topped with a thin, clear glaze. Us kids were permitted only a taste because it was considered too rich for kids. By the time I was old enough for a slice of my own the bakery had closed.

My Slovak grandmother made this as a loaf. Also a version with chopped walnuts instead of poppy seeds. She also made individual ones as rolled crescents sprinkled with powdered sugar, which kept the fillings nicely tucked inside, instead of on the top where they could get singed in the oven. Just saying.

"These are only gonna be like, 50% authentic" So, not so much polish as... pol-ish.

Everybody who makes this and then has a random drug test: "I found out why I was testing positive for opium!"

My mom made her own poppyseed roll recipe after my dad described a dish he had in Germany. Its been a staple in my family ever since. Ever birthday and holiday doesn't start without it.

Why is it so calming to listen to him talk?? He is like the Bob Ross of cooking

It's so easy to grind the poppy seeds in a coffee grinder, or a food processor. The filling comes out much smoother. It's more nutritious since it opens all the seeds. It also improves and intensifies the flavor. Do this before adding to the simmering milk mixture. it also thickens up better. Plus, the ridiculous amount of seeds you have to use is a bit lessened, since grinding the seeds also plumps their volume. 8 oz of poppy seeds will make roughly 16 oz of filling this way.

I'm half Polish. My great grand parents came to America from Poland. In fact my Great Grandpa grew up in the same village as Pope John Paul II. He knew him as a boy. I only met my great grandfather once when I was litle but I remember him telling me this. If there is one thing Polish women can do well it's cook and bake. My mom was a wiz in the kitchen. I was eating poppyseed in the womb. I could eat poppyseed by itself. Kolackys are my favorite but I love these rolls too. Mmmmm, just seeing them agsin makes my mouth water. I haven't made these in forever. May have to change that

My favourite childhood snack :D Thanks, and best wishes from Bydgoszcz, Poland.

As someone who makes a version of this for Christmas every year I can say that making them into these little swirls is ingenious. It's quite difficult to get it right when you make an entire roll not to have it split open in the oven. On another note I personally put raisins and lemon zest into the poppy seed paste as well. I also believe the groud poppy seeds help with retaining mositure in the filling as the oil from the seeds is released. If you do that you won't need to add extra butter to them when you cook them :)

I lived in Düsseldorf for a while and my absolute favourite cake there was poppy seed cake. It was SO yummy

It's interesting that you call these Polish because my German grandmother (born in Prussia) makes these, so I've always associated this sort of thing with German cooking. It's always fun to see what kinds of food different cultures have in common, especially in places as diverse as Central/Eastern Europe!

Here in Germany we love these rolls (we call them snails) but we use ground poppy seeds. After baking they're lightly coated in hot jam (apricots or cherry) and a powdered sugar glaze. Very yummy!

Important fact: these WILL make you fail a drug test. Yes I am being literal.

This looks so good! I definitely want to try this out for my husband. Hopefully it'll be as good as the ones he remembers as a kid!

love this so much! ive never heard of poppy seed rolls but im definitely going to try them out now!

I was born and raised in Poland and now I'm living and studying in the UK... honestly I miss those poppy seed rolls so much the nostalgia hits hard!! Thanks a lot for that! I will definitely try making them! 😄

Definitely throw a positive test for opiates with those bad boys.

Chef John out here trying to make us fail a drug test.

You just blew my mind, Chef John! This in loaf form is a staple at my family holiday gatherings, but we always called it poppy strudel. Even though this is a polish recipe, and we are mostly German, and strudel is an Austrian thing. I've never seen it outside my dad's side of the family!

Still to this day the best voiceover for any recipe is John’s.

Thank you for sharing your experience and ideas, we always get inspired to make the best recipes.

For anyone doing things with poppy seed I recommend soaking in milk for a few hours and grinding. At least twice. For Christmas we're doing this with shortcrust pastry

Even on the very worst days I can always rely on your videos to lift my spirits ! I will be trying these just not today 😜 thank you for another great recipe and smile 🤗

One of those rolls has more poppyseeds than I’ve eaten in my entire life 🧐

Fun fact: not grinding the poppy seeds will also help them pass your GI tract unchanged :D The German version of poppy seed rolls is very flat... we literally call them 'poppy seed snails' (Mohnschnecken) because the swirl kinda reminds you of a snail shell. Basically any kind of swirly roll is called a Schnecke (snail). Also, we like to glaze them with a cooked down mixture of apricot jam and water when they're hot out the oven. It seals in the moisture and gives them a nice shine (even the poppy seeds). I guess the pectin in apricots works well for that and it adds a nice hint of tartness. There's even a term for that method of glazing pastry with apricot jam, we call it "aprikotieren" (basically 'to apricotise').

I'm here for chef john's commentary as much as I'm here for the food haha

wow! so much poppy seeds! I love it! The rolls look so gorgeous!

That’s a LOT of poppy seeds 😂

I love you chef John thank you for all the years of dedication

The loaf is one of my favourite summer market finds and this fills the void since i could not travel this year.

I really enjoyed baked goods with poppy seeds at my favorite coffee shop/bakery when I lived in Poland. I am going to give this recipe a try.

You are after all the Apollo Creed of applying Poppy Seed.

Chef John is probably the best bed time story teller with his voice

There’s NO WAY that its christmas, I’m looking through your playlists for cookies or decadent desserts to make today, and I click on this PLAYLIST!!! Thank you so much. I hope you have a blessed holiday season! 🎅🎁

Awesome!!! As a German/American living along the Oregon coast I can say this recipe is outstanding. My German and Hungarian neighbors are going to love this. Thank you!

And if you don't cut this and just bake the whole roll (with a thicker poppy layer) you have the traditional poppy seed strudel ❤️ Which I did! I modded the recipe just a bit. Instead of honey I put same amount of Apricot jam (no gelatine) and I decreased the amount of sugar in dough and filling by 1/3. I baked it for about the same time, 20-25min. I covered it with foil right after so it stays soft and juicy. It's amazing! THANK YOU

Looks so fresh and delicious

Actually, in Poland we also have small poppy seed rolls, not only big loafs. A loaf would be baked for special occasions like Easter, whereas rolls are readily available everyday in bakeries. So this recipe is on point :)

Nothing better than the smell of fresh made dough in the kitchen. Theses look delicious!

Omg, I'd be all over those. Your narration, as always makes me smile. You are hilarious!! They look so good, I love poppy seed anything!! Nom nom nom!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

thank you for amazing recipes and keeping up the good work for years

My grandmother made similar pastries. I will share one technique (to the first part) where butter, eggs, yeast, sugar, milk (live, not dried) crumbled (not mix to much) were left overnight at room temperature and the next day everything else was done. Grandma used to say that yeast must not be rushed ;) Thank You for your channel is a mine of knowledge.

Would anyone else pay for an audio version of a John Steinbeck novel narrated by Chef John??

Thank you chef john for being so awesome 😄

That looks so good!!!!

Please do make a 'traditional' Makowiec! I love your recipes and there are very few people doing a good job at Polish recipe videos. I'd absolutely love it!

This brings so many memories of my grandmothers. But we spent most of the “ man power” on grinding the poppy seeds. No reputable grandmother with have those without grinding the seeds to perfection and of course splash of alcohol in the poppy seeds was must have as well.

i did something like that but with currants, but parked the rolls in a giant muffin tin. incidentally, if you subbed out a spreadable ground walnut, egg white, sugar, lemon zest, boozy raisin mixture, left the roll in log form, baking it in a pan (narrow loaf, bundt, coiled in a cake pan, etc) you would have potica.

I was going to just *poppy* in here with a crummy dad joke... But these really *RISE* to the occasion!

From your inside out grilled cheese video, one time my mom actually made it close to that but it was really good

My mother and grandmother (Hungarian) used to make these all the time. Also the poppyseed pasta, which was a childhood favorite of mine.

"a little touch of white sugar" is well on its way to becoming the new staple joke of this channel

Aren’t you suppose to grind the popyseeds first in a grinder to release the aromatic oils trapped inside the seed?

Unfortunately it’s currently 11pm when I’m watching and the stores are closed and I don’t have any poppyseeds! I can’t wait to make these!!!

Man, I can't wait until I get a nice kitchen I'm gonna try to make everything you make on this channel.

These look so delicious 😋

My Grandmother started a tradition in our family with poppy seed pastries. Even today, there is never a holiday meal without a poppy seed pastry of some kind. I fondly remember as a child of eight to ten years of age being tasked with manually grinding the poppy seed for the filling. Oh my, do I miss those days, and Grandma.

Any person from a Slavic country loves these. So damn good.

Looks delicious. Gonna try soon. 👍

Just made these, thanks! 😊

Oh my God, I'd never have expected you to make a makowiec video! :D

Just a tip: you can get a cleaner cut from the pastry log into roll portions using dental floss rather than a dough knife.

I’m Polish and I approve this recipe! 😜 Yummy 😋

Wow.. Amazing recipe👍👍

I remember when I was a kid calling it nut roll, or kolache, which has walnuts in it along with the poppyseeds.

As a Polish gal I approve of this recipe! We usually put some icing on top but overall it's just the way we do it. Well done Chef John ❤

This looks great! Like a crossover between a poppy seed cake (makowiec) and a cinnamon roll.

i would like to see some northern german Franzbrötchen, it is by far my favorite baked good.

Chef John I always miss your live but I always watch your videos and I really like watching ❤

came for the drug test jokes and you guys did not disappoint!

Hello! What a GREAT idea to make them into rolls!

Never thought I am going to cook asphalt in my pan. Well time to try it!

I'm at the very least 93.75% Polish and while those aren't really traditional they still look pretty good. Three things tho - the filling could use some raisins and/or crushed wallnuts, the glaze could be made with lemon juice instead of water and the top could be sprinkled with some candied orange peel and/or more raisins.

Ohhhhh childhood memories!! Thank you so much. xo

Chef John, I make mine like my grandmother would make, although those look good, I am going to continue making them like my grandmother made.

People also add raisins or nuts to these. Makes a difference! And grinding poppyseeds helps also with the texture and them being stuck in your teeth ;)

Thé best when you put grated appels into it.Hmm to die for. Poppyseed is my alltime favorite food and a have lived all over the World but nothing Can beet it not even fancy oversized tiny french pastries !

They look awesome

I can't stop watching until Chef John sings, "Enjoy!" to me.....and on The World According to Briggs channel I can't stop watching until he says, "Be nice to each other."

Why does his inflection in his voice simulate the rise and fall of a rollercoaster? UP and down, UP and down.

Wow this roll looks incredible, I really liked the video

That looks delicious 😋

Poppy seeds and drug test DON'T go together!

Making these tomorrow!

I’ll bet a savory variation would be incredible.

These are so good

Chef John, I was anticipating some kind of Wizard of Oz reference in your soliloquy, something somniferous in your dulcet-toned voice.

If you cut the rolls with a thin Fishing line wrapped around the Cut spot they will keep better shape when baked.

They look pretty authentic to me - you can buy simmilar individual ones in every bakery in Poland. And they are very good appart from mandatory teeth brushing :) 10/10

OMG I'm so hungry. Must give this a try tomorrow

I love them, Montreal folks try this at a wavel polish bakery!

Can’t believe I just found your channel! Permanent subscriber here.. 😀 this looks amazing! Yum!

Hello wow nice delicous goodluck to ur channel and more power to u thank u for ur baking

Baked this today, brought some for my German tutor and he devoured 2 of them on the spot 😋 My co-workers are the rest. I added some raisins to it to keep it a tad more traditional. Tomorrow I'm making another batch 😁

My family has a puppy seed brownie (as in they are rectangular and have the texture of a samy cakey brownie) receipt. We usually grind the poppy seeds with sugar. My dad grinds it to a powder, i keep it much rougher. My family always knows without telling who made the treats. Because of the obvious texture difference but also because of the taste. My dads i richter, almost earthy. Mine is a bit fresher, i guess, because it is letting the other ingredients (like lemon) trough. That's the best i can describe it. Good night ☆