Polish Poppy Seed Roll Recipes

Steps:

• Combine warm milk, yeast, and 1/2 cup of flour for dough in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Let sit until a "sponge" forms, about 30 minutes.
• Add egg yolks, sugar, melted butter, salt, and vanilla extract to the "sponge" and whisk until combined. Add remaining 1 cup flour and mix using a dough hook attachment on low speed, scraping down the bowl occasionally with a spatula, until a soft, smooth, slightly elastic dough forms, about 5 minutes. Add more flour and continue to knead if the dough seems too wet and sticky.
• Remove dough from the bowl and knead by hand, checking consistency, about 1 minute, adding a little more flour if necessary.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Toss to coat, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• While the dough is rising, add butter, milk, honey, sugar, and water to a saucepan and place over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer. Add poppy seeds and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens up to a spreadable texture, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before using, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (such as Silpat®).
• Once the dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured surface and use your hands to roll into a log shape, about 15 inches long. Switch to a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a 10x18-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick.
• Spread cooled filling over top, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of dough exposed on the longer side that you'll be rolling towards. Brush the exposed edge of dough very lightly with water.
• Roll up the dough and filling toward the edge you just brushed, finishing with the seam on the bottom. Seal the ends and use your hands to shape the roll as evenly as possible. If you have lots of excess dough on either end, it can be trimmed off.
• Cut the roll into 8 even pieces and lay flat on the prepared baking sheet. If possible, tuck any seams under the dough spiral as it's placed down. Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until well-browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature.
• While rolls are cooling, combine powdered sugar and milk in a bowl for glaze. Brush warm rolls with the glaze and serve.

Steps:

• Place poppy seeds into a food processor and process until seeds are ground, about 1 minute.
• 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).
• Mix yeast with water and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Allow to stand until the yeast forms a creamy layer.
• 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.
• Pour yeast mixture and egg yolk into flour mixture and stir to make a soft dough.
• 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.
• Cut dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat egg white in a bowl until frothy; brush the rolls with beaten egg white.
• 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.