Zest (ingredient)

I am making loads and loads of these delicious rolls for this year’s Christmas.

There are many poppy seed addicts in our family and I’ll try my best to satisfy them all.

These rolls are amazing and fun to make yeast-based pastries filled with a scrumptious poppy seed filling.

If you are still looking for a nice Holiday recipe then you should definitely give these a try.

They’ll make you happy.

Here’s what we need to prepare them.

Let’s start with the dried yeast.

Dried instant yeast is an awesome thing! Your baking will always be a success if using this kind of yeast.

1. Mix the yeast, warm milk and sugar in a bowl.

2. Place the flour, salt and butter into a large bowl.

3. Pour in the yeast mixture.

4. Using your hands or an electric mixer, combine the ingredients and then knead until you form a ball. You should knead until the dough ball is no longer sticky. It should be nicely smooth and elastic.

If you think that your dough is a little too dense to work with, add a little more milk. Start with one tablespoon of milk and if that’s not enough, add some more.

This is the kind of dough that likes a lot of attention (read: kneading). I love kneading dough – it’s the most wonderful way of relax for me.

5. Place the dough into a bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

In the meantime, we can prepare the poppy seed filling.

Of course, you can replace this filling with the canned, store-bought one.

But why would you?

Okay, I may know why… it’s simpler. But still – making your own filling will be a lot more fun!

6. So, for the adventurous ones – grind the poppy seeds.

7. Combine the sugar with hot water. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

8. Then stir in the ground poppy seeds, lemon zest and vanilla extract.

And that’s it – your poppy seed filling is done and ready to be used.

9. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

10. Turn the risen dough onto a floured surface.

11. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into four (4) equal parts.

12. Take one of the four parts…

13. And roll it out into a circle.

The circle should be about 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter.

14. Cut the circle into 8 equal triangles.

15. Arrange 2 teaspoons of the filling crosswise at the wider end of the triangle.

16. And roll it up, starting at the wider end.

17. Pinch the edges to seal.

18. Let the rolls rise for another 10-15 minutes.

19. Then transfer them onto the lined baking sheet.

Work in batches here.

20. Beat the egg lightly. Brush each roll that you’ve transferred onto the sheet with the egg mixture.

Just like this.

21. Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for 16 minutes.

Then repeat the process with the rest of the rolls.

Yum!

Double yum!

Enjoy, dear friends.

This is very, very good.

(This recipe makes 32 rolls and takes about 2 1/2 hours to prepare.)