Lithuanian Poppy Seed Buns With Chocolate Glaze
A recipe that takes you right back to a school canteen - nostalgic Lithuanian Poppy Seed Buns with Chocolate Glaze! These retro poppy seed rolls are a cousin to cinnamon rolls but with a twist—baked on their side with the swirl of filling facing sideways, just like pain au chocolat. The end result is a deliciously unique classic Lithuanian buns that you’ll want to bake again and again!
Equipment
- Stand Mixer With A Dough Hook Attachment
- Hand Mixer
- Large Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
For The Dough:
- 200 g (1⅓) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (5g) instant yeast fast-action yeast
- 50 g (¼ cup) white granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 50 ml (3½ tbsp) milk
- 50 g (3½ tbsp) butter at room temperature
- 1 egg small
For Poppy Seed Filling:
- 100 g (⅔ cup) poppy seeds
- 1 egg white reserve egg yolk for egg wash
- 2 tablespoon sugar
For Egg Wash:
- 1 egg yolk
For Chocolate Glaze:
- 100 g (¾ cup) semi-sweet chocolate dark chocolate
- 50 ml (3½ tbsp) heavy cream double cream
Instructions
The Night Before
- Place poppy seeds in a small bowl or a jug and pour boiling water over. Cover and leave them to soak overnight.
Make The Dough
- The next day, add the milk and butter to a small pan and place it on low heat until the butter melts. Leave the mixture to cool down (it should be about your body tempearature).
- Place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer and stir to combine. Add an egg and milk mixture and run your stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment for 10-15 minutes until the dough is smooth and wrapping around the dough hook (it will be quite wet though).
- Scoop the dough into a clear large bowl, cover and leave in the warm spot to rise for 1-1.5 hours. It will puff up, but may not double in size, and that's ok.
Make Poppy Seed Filling
- In the meantime, make the poppy seed filling. Drain and rinse the poppy seeds, then drain them again and leave in a sieve for a few minutes to extra moisture drips out.
- Place the poppy seeds in a food processor or a powerful smoothie maker, and pulse a few times to mash them up. Drain then again if needed.
- Mix the poppy seeds with sugar and lightly whisked egg white.
- Line a large baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
Assemble and Bake
- Once the dough has doubled in volume, knock it back and, on a floured surface, roll it out into a large rectangle measuring approximately 30x15cm (12x6in).
- Spread the poppy seed filling across the rolled-out dough. Roll the dough into the log, and place it on a floured surface seam side down (trim the sides if they are extremely uneven).
- Cut the roll into 8 even pieces.
- Arrange the poppy seed buns on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 5 cm around each one. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave them to rise again for 20-30 minutes in a warm spot.
- Preheat the oven to 190 C (380F).
- Lightly whisk the egg yolk in a small bowl with a drop of water or milk. Brush the tops of the buns.
- Bake the Lithuanian buns for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown and puffed up.
- Transfer them onto a wire rack to cool down to room temperature.
Chocolate Glaze
- In the meantime, place the chocolate pieces and cream into a small saucepan, and heat it over low heat stirring continuously until the chocolate melts (to be safe, you can melt the chocolate over a double boiler).
- Pour the chocolate glaze over each poppy seed bun, and leave the glaze to set before enjoying!