Poppy Seed Kolaches

My mom’s side of the family hails from Hungary, and every year around the holidays she makes kalacs, a huge, gorgeous loaf spiraled with filling. These little pastries, called kolaches, feature a buttery dough base and a spiced poppy seed filling. This is one of my favorite ways to shape filled pastries—it allows you to use plenty of filling, all wrapped up in a neat package.

Makes 12 pastries

Difficulty: Medium

Make Ahead and Storage: These pastries are best the same day they are made, but you can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

• Filling
• 121 g / ½ cup whole milk
• 121 g / ⅓ cup honey
• 142 g / 1 cup poppy seeds
• 74 g / ½ cup chopped dates
• 1 g / ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2.5 g / ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ recipe Brioche Dough, cold
• Egg wash: 57 g / 1 large egg, beaten with 15 g / 1 tablespoon water and a small pinch of fine sea salt

1. Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, honey, poppy seeds, dates, cinnamon, and salt to a simmer over medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and set aside to cool to room temperature.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a ½-inch thickness (about 12 by 16 inches). Cut into 4-inch squares—you should get 12 pieces. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2½ inches between them.

4. Scoop 28 g / 2 tablespoons of the filling into the center of each square, lightly pressing the mound of filling with the back of the spoon to flatten it slightly. Bring two opposite corners of each square together in the center and press to seal; when you press on the dough, the filling should ooze outward a little bit, almost to the edges. Repeat the process with the remaining opposite corners.

5. Cover the sheets with greased plastic wrap and let the pastries rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, 35 to 45 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C, with racks in the upper and lower thirds.

7. Brush the pastries with the egg wash. Bake until evenly golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the sheets from front to back and top to bottom at the halfway mark. Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

✻ Why It Works

This shape, which I call a closed square (see Shaping Pastries), is great for pastries with filling, especially when you want a decent amount inside. But you can use other shaping methods to make this same pastry—pinwheel, foldover diamond, and filled square all would work great too; see Shaping Pastries.

★ Pro Tip

You can make the filling with 170 g / 1½ cups walnuts, pecans, or almonds, finely chopped, instead of the poppy seeds.