Poppyseed rolls

Or in the native parlance "Kolachi" and not those Czech abominations that go by the same name. It is a production to make these holiday treats. I started at ten this morning and finished at 5 in the afternoon. I've tried to make poppy seed rolls for the last three years now with varying degrees of success. This year I'm using my friend David's recipe.

The dough runs as follows.

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1/2 stick of butter, 3/4 c. milk. 2 eggs (reserve part for egg wash on top), 1/2 c. sugar, 1 pkg. yeast, pinch of salt, flour until it makes a good dough


i think i usually melt the butter in the milk, add the yeast and sugar once the butter-milk mixture is cooled enough, then add the eggs and the rest...
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So melt the butter in the milk.
add sugar (I multiplied the recipes by six and used a cup of honey and a cup and a half of sugar)

Toss the mixture into a wide bowl to cool more swiftly.

Add the eggs and the yeast which you ought to have proofed by now but only when the milk/butter has cooled to luke warm. Cooking the eggs or the yeast is a bad idea.
Then keep adding flour (using a sifter) until the dough is workable.
Let the whole thing rise for three hours kneading at an hour and a half.

The rising time will give you plenty of time to make the filling.
First grind a cup of poppy seeds per roll. I used my little mortar and pestle. The idea is to break up the outer shell not to make dust. The seeds won't cook properly if they are not roughed up a bit.

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1 cup of poppyseeds, before grinding
1 tbs butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 mushy banana
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You squish the banana and milk together. I used honey instead of sugar and reduced the whole mixture in a pot for about an hour on medium.


Now after the filling is ready and the dough has risen roll out the dough very thinly. It's a tough dough to work with so work those arms : ) .
Spread about a cup and a half of filling on the dough and roll it up putting the "Seam" underneath and tucking in both ends. Finally cut four or 5ive slits equitably across the top of each roll to let the pastry breath and not explode. If you want the nice golden brown crust brush the outside of the roll with some egg white.
It gets tossed in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
My first three had one disaster (which we will happily eat) making it a five out of six success rate. Maybe next year I'll avert all disasters. These five will be frozen for the holidays as gifts for select wonderful people in my life.
~Eikon