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This is my Mom’s recipe for poppy seed roll and it’s one of my husband’s favorites. I’ve always been intimidated by this classic roulade, but I’ve come to find it’s not as complicated as I thought it would be.
Mom makes these at least once a month and always makes enough to share. They go fast! If you are going to make Rouletti (a half-a-day process; most of which is dough rising time), you may as well make 4 and share them with your family and friends. They will sure appreciate it!
I’m not a fan of using “special” ingredients but this recipe is really best with flour that is made in Canada; you’ll have the softest dough with Canadian flour. P.S. have any of you tried canned poppy seeds for this?
Ingredients for Poppy Seed Roll:
1 and 1/3 cups 1% milk
1 Tbsp active dry yeast (I used Red Star Brand)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick (8 Tbsp) salted butter (or unsalted butter plus 1/4 tsp salt)
4 cups bleached all-purpose flour (I used flour Made in Canada, which is best for this recipe) *measured correctly
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla powder
1 cup poppy seeds (you will need a food grinder to prepare these)
1 egg white, for egg wash
8 oz sweetened condensed milk (from a 14 oz can)
1 cup raisins
How to make Russian Poppy Seed Roll (Roulette):
1. Heat 1 1/3 cups milk in the microwave until it’s luke-warm. Pour milk in a large mixing bowl (preferably the bowl from your KitchenAid mixer). Add 1 tbsp yeast, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 cup flour. Mix until flour is well blended. Let stand in a warm oven (100 degrees) for 1/2 hour or put it on the counter for 1 hour at room temperature if you have all the time in the world.
(My oven doesn’t set that low, so I heat it to the lowest setting, then turn it off and let it sit in the warm oven with a towel underneath it. I also put a wooden spoon in the door to prop it open a bit. Quite the set-up!).
Dough should rise about 1.5 times in volume. Stir dough lightly.
2. Melt 1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter (until it’s just melted – it should not be hot). Add butter to the batter. Add 2 whole eggs. Add the rest of your 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 cups flour. Whisk together.
3. Using the dough hook (on speed 2), add the remaining 2 cups of the flour 1/2 cup at a time. After all the flour is in, let it continue mixing 15 minutes. Dough is ready when it is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl. Finished dough will be soft. It will feel sticky to the touch but should not stick to your fingers.
4. Place dough in a very large mixing bowl (our Kitchenaid bowl is 6 Qts so I left it in the same bowl), cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place (in a 100 degree oven or in the sun) Let sit 2.5 hours to rise (until about 3-4 times in volume) Carefully peel off cellophane when it’s done.
Prepping the Poppy Seeds while dough is rising:
1. Fill medium saucepan with 1 cup poppy seeds and add enough water for impurities to float to the top, drain off the water and repeat.
2. Add 3 cups water to the pot. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer. (Don’t boil). Turn off. Cover with lid and let it sit for 30 minutes.
3. Return to a simmer (don’t boil). Turn off. Cover and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Drain poppy seeds by keeping lid on and put cheese cloth on lid to catch stray poppy seeds, or if you have a fine mesh sieve like this OXO Strainer
4. Push the poppy seeds through a food grinder using the fine grinding plate. You can also use a coffee grinder and do it in smaller batches. With the meat grinder, you need to push firmly. The seeds won’t grind well unless they are under pressure. P.S. I’ve tried putting them through a food processor and it did not work.
5. Mix 8 ounces of sweetened condensed milk into ground poppy seeds.
Assembling Poppy Seed Rolls (Rouletti):
1. Line an extra large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Put dough onto a clean, dry, non-stick surface (a sheet of parchment paper works well). Divide into 4 equal pieces.
3. Roll out the dough into an 11″ x 8″ oval-ish shape; similar to a thin crust pizza dough. It should not stick to your rolling pin. Spread 1/2 cup poppy seed mixture over the dough and sprinkle about 30-40 raisins over the poppy mixture.
4. Roll the Roulette (not too tight!) and place side-by-side on the lined baking sheet. Brush the top with egg wash (1 egg white, 1/2 tsp sour cream, 1/2 tsp sugar – whisked together). Let them rise on the counter for 1 hour (or in a 100˚F oven for 30 minutes).
5. Preheat Oven to 360°F and bake 28-30 min until the tops are deep golden (but not brown; I over-baked just a tad, but they were still great. My husband was raving about them. See the picture below; he couldn’t wait long enough for me to take a picture of all 4).
Enjoy! 🙂
Mom's Poppy Seed Roll (Roulette) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/3 cups 1% milk
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast, I used Red Star Brand
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 stick, 8 tbsp salted butter (or unsalted butter plus 1/4 tsp salt)
- 4 cups bleached all-purpose flour, I used flour Made in Canada, which is best for this recipe
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla powder
- 1 cup poppy seeds, you will need a food grinder to prepare these
- 1 egg white, for egg wash
- 8 oz sweetened condensed milk, from a 14 oz can
- 1 cup raisins
Instructions
How to make Russian Poppy Seed Rolls (Roulette):
- Heat 1 1/3 cups milk in the microwave until it's luke-warm. Pour milk in a large mixing bowl (preferably the bowl from your KitchenAid mixer). Add 1 tbsp yeast, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 cup flour. Mix until flour is well blended. Let stand in a warm oven (100 degrees) for 1/2 hour or put it on the counter for 1 hour at room temperature if you have all the time in the world. Dough should rise about 1.5 times in volume. Stir dough lightly.
- Melt 1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter (until it's just melted - it should not be hot). Add butter to the batter. Add 2 whole eggs. Add the rest of your 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 cups flour. Whisk together.
- Using the dough hook (on speed 2), add the remaining 2 cups of the flour 1/2 cup at a time. After all the flour is in, let it continue mixing 15 minutes. Dough is ready when it is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl. Finished dough will be soft. It will feel sticky to the touch but should not stick to your fingers.
- Place dough in a very large mixing bowl (our Kitchenaid bowl is 6 Qts so I left it in the same bowl), cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place (in a 100 degree oven or in the sun) Let sit 2.5 hours to rise (until about 3-4 times in volume) Carefully peel off cellophane when it's done.
Prepping the Poppy Seeds while dough is rising:
- Fill medium saucepan with 1 cup poppy seeds and add enough water for impurities to float to the top, drain off the water and repeat.
- Add 3 cups water to the pot. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer. (Don't boil). Turn off. Cover with lid and let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Return to a simmer (don't boil). Turn off. Cover and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Drain poppy seeds by keeping lid on and put cheese cloth on lid to catch stray poppy seeds, or if you have a fine mesh sieve, use it!
- Push the poppy seeds through a food grinder using the fine grinding plate. You can also use a coffee grinder and do it in smaller batches. With the meat grinder, you need to push firmly. The seeds won't grind well unless they are under pressure. P.S. I've tried putting them through a food processor and it did not work.
- Mix 8 ounces of sweetened condensed milk into ground poppy seeds.
Assembling Poppy Seed Rolls (Rouletti):
- Line an extra large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Put dough onto a clean, dry, non-stick surface (a sheet of parchment paper works well). Divide into 4 equal pieces.
- Roll out the dough into an 11" x 8" oval-ish shape; similar to a thin crust pizza dough. It should not stick to your rolling pin. Spread 1/2 cup poppy seed mixture over the dough and sprinkle about 30-40 raisins over the poppy mixture.
- Roll the Roulette (not too tight!) and Place side-by-side on the lined baking sheet. Brush the top with egg wash (1 egg white, 1/2 tsp sour cream, 1/2 tsp sugar - whisked together). Let them rise on the counter for 1 hour (or in a 100˚F oven for 30 minutes).
- Preheat Oven to 360°F and bake 28-30 min until the tops are deep golden (but not brown).
Notes
It turned out great! I used the 2 cans of poppy seed filling for 4 roulettes from Winco. The only problem I had was baking it. The roulette became golden brown after abt 15 minutes so, I had to lower the temp to 325* in order to fully bake it thru.
You weren’t baking it convection style were you? Maybe you have a more powerful oven? Was it in the center of the oven? We might never know ;). I’m just happy you liked it! 🙂
Just found a website that carries it. The packaging is slightly different for some reason (maybe they didn’t update a recent photo) but everything else is the same… http://www.kalyx.com/shopexd.asp?id=1037382.
Thank you! Although that is huge!! 7.5 lbs. It sounds good. I’ll keep an eye out for it 🙂
lol, yes I know that sounds huge, after opening I usually transfer all of it to a plastic container and freeze it. It freezes very well as long as it’s in an airtight container:) and when you want to use it again you can just start spreading anything you want right away, it spreads so easy just a tiny bit stiffer than it would be room temp but still workable:)
That’s awesome to know that it freezes well! How does it compare to the stuff that’s sold in regular grocery stores? I’ve heard such negative reviews on the typical poppyseed pre-made filling, but it sounds like you’ve found a winner. The only bummer is that my son doesn’t eat nuts for now, but I definitely want to try it.
Im not sure how it compares to other brands but I do know the poppy seed filling I’ve tasted from our local russian store seems to be very bland in taste. Where as this filling can be eaten alone it’s that good:) You can’t taste the almonds at all! It’s just a very thick and creamy poppy seed butter spread. I highly recommend you trying it. I doubt you won’t convert, lol:) Iv’e noticed no matter what kind of recipe I’ve used this for it’s not a fail even if the dough didn’t come out the way I wanted it to but the taste of this stuff evens everything out:)))
It sounds like an easy substitute and I love that it’s freezer friendly considering it’s such a large can! 🙂 Thanks again for sharing that with me.
BTW, just made your carrot apple craison salad! That was such a brilliant idea, tasted amazing! Where do get all your creative recipes from?
The carrot apple salad was something we just thought up last minute and it worked! 🙂 We do alot of our own recipe development but many of my ideas are from family, friends, some are from readers. I rarely post recipes from books or magazines but occasionally I do if I really really love something. 😉
QA products is the brand. It reads “Chicago almond ready to use poppy filling”. It’s a 7.5 lb can. I have a photo if you want to see how the can looks…
Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Where can it be found?Helen
Hi Natasha,
You were asking if anyone has used a canned type of poppy seeds, I just wanted to let you know that I discovered a huge can of poppy seeds butter mixed with grinded almonds and I have never tasted better poppy seeds filling. My mom has made her roulettes with it and I don’t think people have never not asked how she made them because there that good! The poppy seed filling is very sweet and ready to spread you wouldn’t need to mix anything else to it. We get it at the minnonites store.
Thanks for sharing that! We don’t have a minnonite store (not that I know of!) What brand is it?
We loved it! Thanks for the great and easy to follow instructions! This was my first time ever dealing with yeast and I nailed it, thanks to u 😉
Yes!! Thanks so much for the great review. I’m so glad you nailed it. 🙂
Perfect… It turned out beautiful… It’s in the oven now baking… Can’t wait to try it! Thanks… Merry Christmas!
Oh I’m so glad everything worked out. I hope you and your family LOVE the recipe!
On the last step when it should rise for 2.5 hr… My oven is barely warm… But the dough looks really good 🙂 or may be my bowl is small… Hmmm… Although I put it in the bigger one…
It does need alot of room to rise. I’m not sure how large your bowl is. If it’s 3-4 times in volume, it should be good. It’s ok if it pushes up against the plastic wrap. You can move on to the next step when it looks like it might overflow 😉
I used dry yeast. Yes it’s in the oven… I also had to mix dough longer than 15 min because after 15 min it didn’t look ready as on your pic 🙂 I’m so excited, though… Should I may be remove it from the over… It’s been there only little over an hour?
Which rising step are you on? Make sure you oven isn’t hotter than 100degrees so it does’t start cooking the dough.
I am making rulet right now and my dough rising faster then it says in your direction. What should I do?
Did you use instant yeast? If it’s just regular yeast, it should be fine. Your dough might be in a warmer place than mine was. Is it on the counter or in the oven?
I made this recipe and followed it to the letter and it turned out awful. I’m so bummed because it was for Christmas! I think a whole tablespoon of yeast was too much and putting vanilla in the dough is a little odd. The bread and the filling just does not taste right at all.
HI Rachel, this is definitely a family favorite for us so I’m bummed it didn’t turn out for you. It’s hard to say what went wrong without being there with you. Did you follow all of the instructions without any changes; following all of the wait times? Did you possibly use instant yeast? We make this recipe often and it turns out great every time! Each Roulade has just 1/4 Tbsp of yeast so it really isn’t that much in comparison to how many roulades it makes. Did you make the filling yourself or buy the pre-made one? I’ve heard negative things about the store-bought filling. If you made it yourself, did you use a meat grinder or coffee grinder? I have found a food processor doesn’t work and won’t give you the right texture. This really is a great recipe. I hope that helps.
I think the yeast reacted with the vanilla. I used canned poppy seed filling and it was horrible but I also made my own walnut filling but that oozed out of the bottom. I noticed when the dough was rising it smelled like alcohol.
Yeah, I wouldn’t trust the canned poppyseed filling. The one I have listed here shouldn’t ooze. Are you sure you weren’t using instant yeast?
I used the store bought filling, it wasn’t runny. Yes the long side, sigh, maybe I rolled them out too thin. 🙁
That’s a real bummer 🙁 I haven’t experimented with the store-bough one.
Hi Natasha,
I just made these but they tore on the sides and the filling gushed out:( Would you know by chance why? I placed two rolls on a sheet, opposite of what you have on your picture.
It’s not the type of filling that should be gushing. It shouldn’t be that juicy. Do you think the poppyseeds could have been drained more? Also, did you make sure to only mix in 8 oz of condensed milk (a little more than 1/2 of the 14 oz can). This filling should not be runny at all. Does that help? Do you mean they tore on the long side? If yes, then you might have just rolled them too thin. I haven’t had that happen before. How big were your dough rounds when you rolled them out?
Hi Natasha. Where do you buy your poppy seeds? They are so expensive in the stores here!
You can get them in Winco in the bins (check the bins in any store). The best tasting ones are at Whole foods but these were from a bin in Winco.
My Grandma used to make a cabbage roll , nut roll, poppy and cheese do you have the recipes for those??
Was it basically the same kind of roll with a different filling?
made this and my mother was impressed… but i did roll out the dough a bit too thin so they ended up being a lil dense, not as fluffy. i guess just lots more circles then yours in the picture. its very good, thanks!
I’m glad you enjoyed them 🙂
hi can anyone give me a recipe how to make dough in bread maker. Like for one or two pieces. thank you
Does it turn out moist? My pet peeve is a dry roulette haha.
I agree! My mom’s roulette is not dry; only if it’s overbaked (I guess that goes for anything ;))
Nah its fine 🙂 thankyou so much Natasha 🙂
Poppy seed question :/ (shy face) :)))
Oh gosh now I’m embarrased :-O. Sorry. They really need to be cooked and then broken down to release their sweetness and be tasty, otherwise they are just grainy and they wont be able to absorb any of the condensed milk. You can make a double batch of poppyseeds and freeze or refrigerate the other half for something else 🙂