Homemade poppy seed filling is actually simple to make and is so much better than store bought. The texture and flavor is superior in every way.
In our Soviet culture, we bake with poppy seeds a lot, so making homemade poppy seed filling makes sense. I was really surprised how easy it is to make yourself with this simple method. Since poppy seed filling isn't always available in stores, sometimes I have no choice but to make it at home. Often even if you can find it, it doesn't taste very fresh because not a lot of people bake with it.
The homemade version is perfectly creamy, very easy to work with and spread out in your baking and tastes so good. It's wonderful to use it in pastries, yeast breads and cookies. My favorite are Poppy Seed Rugelach and Poppy Seed Rolls. You can also be make it in advance and store it in your refrigerator. It even freezes perfectly for longer storage. Your baking will taste so much better when you use homemade poppy seed filling.
Ingredients:
(Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the printable recipe with measurements.)
- poppy seeds
- whole milk
- I recommend using whole milk because it will have a richer, creamier texture than reduced fat or skim milk.
- You can most likely use other milk options instead of cow's milk, but I haven't personally tried it.
- butter
- granulated sugar
- salt
- egg yolks
- egg yolks will help thicken up the custard for the poppy seed filling. Using only egg yolks not the egg whites is important because the egg whites is the part that makes things taste "eggy"
The Best Way to Prep the Poppy Seeds
You do need a coffee grinder for this recipe. Trust me, I tried it in the food processor, blender, mashing it by hand, grinding it with my teeth (just kidding). It just doesn't work. The seeds are too tiny for anything besides a coffee grinder. I have heard that others use a meat grinder for this, but I haven't tried that.
Here's the coffee grinder that we have now (it's currently not available on Amazon, but here's the one that we had before that you can purchase now. We used it for years and it worked really well for this too. (I also use it once in a while to grind spices.)
How To Make Homemade Poppy Seed Filling
- Use a coffee grinder to process the poppy seeds.
- You will need to do this in several batches.
- Meanwhile heat the milk, butter, salt and sugar on medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the milk is frothy.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Take some of the hot milk mixture and slowly pour in a some of it into the egg yolks, whisking the whole time.
- This is called tempering, which prevents the eggs from scrambling.
- When you've added about half of the milk to the eggs, pour the tempered mixture back into the saucepan, whisking to combine.
- Cook on medium-low heat until the mixture thickens, just like making pudding. It should thicken up.
- Add the poppy seeds and mix to combine.
- The filling will look thin, but don't worry, it will thicken up as it cools. Pour the filling into a glass mason jar or a storage container. Cool, then store the filling in the refrigerator, for about a week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Poppy Seed Filling Recipes
- Poppy Seed Rugelach
- Use poppy seed filling instead of the Apple Filling in these yeast Bulochki
- Poppy Seed Roll
Homemade Poppy Seed Filling
Homemade poppy seed filling is actually simple to make and is so much better than store bought. The texture and flavor is superior.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups
- Category: Miscellaneous
Ingredients
- 8 oz. poppy seeds (about 1 ยฝ cups)
- 1 cup whole milk
- ยผ cup (or 4 Tablespoons) butter
- ยพ - 1 cup sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 egg yolks, beaten
Instructions
- Use a coffee grinder to process the poppy seeds. You will need to do this in several batches.
- Meanwhile heat the milk, butter, salt, and sugar on medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the milk is frothy.
- Slowly pour in a small amount of the hot milk into the egg yolks, whisking vigorously with the other hand. This is called tempering, which prevents the eggs from scrambling. When you've added about half of the milk to the eggs, pour the tempered mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium-low heat until the mixture thickens, just like making pudding.
- Add the poppy seeds, mixing to combine. Cool. The filling will thicken up as it cools. Store the filling in the refrigerator for up to a week and freeze for up to 3 months.
Very excited to make your poppy seed roulette. ะะฐะบะพะฒัะน ััะปะตั is by far my favorite dessert, but I like some raisins in the filling. What volume of raisins would you suggest adding to this recipe?
And thanks for this great website of Russian recipes. It's truly a treasure.
Add however many raisins as you like, Nik. It's completely up to you. I'm happy to hear that you enjoy the recipes on my website. Thank you for taking the time to write.
Hi, for some reason my mixture always gets curdy at the end from the eggs. It will look smooth while it is on stove, but as soon as I take it off and keep whisking mixture it starts to curdle from the eggs. How do I avoid this or is it supposed to be like this? It makes my poppyseed filling have little curdles in it. Still tastes great but please let me know how to avoid the curdles. Am I possibly getting it too hot and heating it for too long? Please let me know, thank you!
Hi Olgak
Love your kindness with your recipes so easy to follow, I made a baked poppy seed cheesecake, thank you so much for the delicious poppyseed filling recipe, Iโm now looking for you yeast poppyseed scrolls but cannot find it? If you could please assist. Regards Monica
A poppy seed cheesecake sounds delicious, Monica:).
Here is the recipe for the Poppy Seed Roll - click here.
I've had poppyseed filling in the refrigerator in a tight lidded jar for one year. I tasted it, it tastes fine, but I am wondering if it is OK to use now for baking. I saw you've never kept it for more than a month refrigerated and you think it could be OK longer, but one year? Thinking I might try to make something small with it and see how it goes. I just made new poppyseed filling for baking now. I don't taste anything off in the one that has been refrigerated, so wondering if OK to use. The filling I have refrigerated did not have egg in it, only soaked in some hot milk, sugar, maybe butter.
I, personally, wouldn't use it. If I don't use up the poppy seed filling in more than a week, I freeze it. That way, it will stay fresh much longer, up to a few months. I'd rather be safe than sorry:).
Hi Olga, can you freeze it?
Yes, it works really well, Irena.
I just store it in a freezer ziplock bag and then thaw before using.
I have used professional 900 watts personal Ninja, the kind that makes one smoothie at a time by turning the cup upside down and pressing on it, and it did a great job grinding poppy seeds, all 8 oz at once. It took less than a minute of continuous pressure to have them ground. I used Red Mill poppy seeds, they come in 8 oz bag: very convenient!
Will try it tomorrow in poppyseed rolls.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Kira.
I was on the search for a good poppy seed filling . Finally found some in a larger package than 8 ounces Online and am eager to get some decent Poppy seed cake with Streusel Topping on the Table .i just want to add some information regarding grinding the seeds .The best way to grind the poppy seeds is with a poppy seed grinder which is available on Amazon . I brought mine - a manual one - from Europe years ago ( before Amazon ) . Another option is to buy a mortar. Many European Websites point out not to use a coffee grinder since it affects the quality of the seeds . The grinders are not cheap but if you use poppy seeds or other seeds and grains it is worth the investment . Thank you very much for posting this recipe . This is a keeper !
That's great, Ulrike! I'm so happy you were happy with this recipe.
How long can this filling stay in the fridge for?
I don't know for sure, Alina, since I usually make the filling when I am making something with it, so I've never had in in the refrigerator for more than a week. I think it would last longer, but I don't know for sure.
we purchased a seed grinder which works great.... hand crank but very easy
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That's great, Kathleen. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for recipe. I am making makowiec for the first time for our family's traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner (my husband is Polish - he cooks everything else :). I had a recipe that called for 1c milk-1c sugar-1 lb poppy seeds. Yours is half the poppy seeds for volume of milk/sugar. So I still used 1lb poppy seeds and added 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c milk. Plus the egg - nice addition! Also grated lemon rind and vanillla. The filling tastes great, now for the dough and final product.
Adding lemon zest and vanilla is such a good idea, Pam. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the filling. I hope your makowiec turns out great too. I'd love to see a picture of it once you bake it. If you post it on Facebook or Instagram, tag me please:).
Ohmygosh! I am Romanian and I grew up on poppy seed desserts too! I am so happy to have found this recipe , finding eastern European recipes is really hard so I am so thankful for your blog! I plan on using this to make cozonac cu mac.
Wanted to make my granddaughter some hamantaschen. I've only used canned mund (poppyseed filling) before... but she has bad corn allergies and the canned has both corn syrup & corn starch. Did some research and found your recipe... made today with huge success!!! Came out fantastic!! Thank you so much for sharing! I made a double batch and now I'm going to try your rugelach too!!
The amount of poppy seed is confusing .. says 8 oz and then ( about 1 1/2 cups ) 8oz is only 1 cup .. what do u mean by the 2 different amounts ???
Want to be sure of amounts .. cant wait to make this ๐
Thank you ~~~
MAry Jo
I try to include the cup measurements for people who don't have a scale, Mary Jo.
8 oz of poppy seeds is equal to 1 1/2 cups. 1 cup of poppy seeds would actually be about 5 oz.
Even though 1 cup is usually equal to 8 oz, that is not always the case. 1 cup = 8 oz is only true for liquid ingredients. Some dry ingredients are lighter or heavier than others.
For example, 1 cup of dry mushrooms would barely weigh 1 oz, and 1 cup of long grain rice is about 7 oz.
Ahh I sooo appreciate your response ๐ !!!!! Thank you sooo much .. !!! Hope ur Christmas is BEAUTIFUL !!!
Many blessings ~~~
You're welcome, Mary Jo.
Merry Christmas!
Would be nice if you could post a picture of your coffee grinder
FYI: for anyone grinding the poppy seeds in the coffee grinder, not all coffee grinders are the same. I grinded my poppy seeds in a Cuisinart coffee grinder and ruined my coffee grinder. My coffee grinder was fairly new and not cheap but the motor got plugged up by poppy seed residue and stopped working from grinding the poppy seeds. Taking it apart and cleaning it didn't help fix it. After the fact, I read on the manual that nothing except coffee should be grinded in it. So this is just some information for people to consider before using their coffee grinder to grind poppy seeds.
Thank you so much for writing, Lena. That is definitely something to keep in mind. I've never heard of poppy seeds ruining a coffee grinder. I'll have to put in a picture of my coffee grinder, so others will know which one is safe to use.
Hello!
My mom tried in a coffee grinder and the motor just stopped working.
Can u tell what brand is your grinder and how many watts is it ???
Thank you
I will try to add a picture of the coffee grinder that I use.
I heard many other chefs who recommend using a coffee grinder to grind up spices and poppy seeds, so I know I'm not the only one. The brand that I bought was the cheapest one at Walmart, for like $15 or so.