Mohnschleifen (poppy seed bow ties)
Sweet yeast dough rolled thin, spread with poppy seed filling, and cut into strips that are looped into a bow shape before baking, a lighter, quicker cousin of a full poppy seed roll. Fresh-ground poppy seeds are what give the filling real flavour rather than a mild, faintly bitter paste.
Prep30 min
Cook15 min
Rest75 min
Oven190°C
Servings12
Christoph's poppy seed bow ties, a quicker, lighter shape than a full poppy seed roll using the same filling.
Ingredients
Units
Temperature
Servings
Dough
- 350 g flour rounded
- 50 g sugar rounded
- 7 g instant dried yeast rounded
- 3 g fine salt rounded
- 140 ml warm milk rounded
- 1 egg rounded
- 50 g butter, softened rounded
Poppy seed filling
- 120 g poppy seeds rounded
- 100 ml milk rounded
- 50 g sugar rounded
- 20 g butter rounded
To finish
- 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast and salt together. Add the warm milk, egg and softened butter, mix to a soft dough, then knead by hand for 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Cover and prove in a warm place for 60 minutes, until roughly doubled.
- Grind the poppy seeds finely in a spice grinder or food processor.
- Combine the ground poppy seeds, milk, sugar and butter in a small pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes, until thickened to a spreadable paste. Let cool to room temperature.
- Roll the risen dough out on a floured surface to a rectangle about 40 by 24 cm. Spread the cooled poppy seed filling evenly over it.
- Cut into 12 strips, each about 2 cm wide and the full 24 cm length. Twist each strip a few times, then loop it into a loose bow shape, tucking the ends underneath.
- Arrange on lined baking sheets, spaced apart, cover loosely, and prove 15 minutes.
- Brush with beaten egg. Bake at 190°C for 13 to 15 minutes, until deep golden brown. Cool 10 minutes on the tray before serving.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers grinding the poppy seeds and kneading the dough; filling and shaping are as in the hand method.
- Poppy seeds into the dry bowl. Grind 1 min / speed 10. Tip out and set aside.
- Flour, sugar, yeast and salt into the bowl. Add the warm milk, egg and butter. Knead 3 min / dough mode.
- Tip out, prove and continue by hand from step 3 of the hand method.
Notes
- Grind the poppy seeds just before using them, since ground poppy seed loses aroma quickly.
- Let the filling cool fully before spreading, or it melts the butter in the dough and makes rolling messy.
- Twist before looping, not after. A twisted strip holds its bow shape through baking better than a flat one folded into a loop.
- They keep for 2 days at room temperature, covered, and freeze well unglazed.
Ingredient substitutions
- Poppy seeds have no real substitute here; a nut-based filling changes the recipe entirely.
- A little grated lemon or orange zest in the filling is a good addition if you like a brighter flavour.
From Christoph Mayer