There’s this bakery half an hour from my house that makes really good poppy seed bread. Growing up, I was well aware that my entire family was obsessed with it. I wasn’t a big fan, because poppy seeds were gross and kinda freaked me out because they looked like tiny bugs. But then one day when I was twelve I tried some and it was actually good, and I could finally see what all the fuss was about. It was flaky, soft, and sweet, with a crispy crust. So you can imagine my excitement when I was walking down the yeast isle at my grocery store, and right next to the yeast was a can of poppy paste! I did a major double take and was probably judged by other people shopping around me, but whatever. They’ll get over it. I put a picture of the can I bought below (I actually used a can and a half, because it was difficult to spread).

 

The dough being mixed (recipe link at the bottom).

The finished dough and the can of poppy seed filling that I spread in the spread out dough.

The poppy seed filling after being spread on the dough.

The finished poppy roll, and the roll after spreading a mix of poppies and water over the top.

The finished poppy seed bread!

A view of the cross section.

The recipe for the dough: http://www.passionateaboutbaking.com/2011/10/baking-povitica-croatian-sweet-walnut-chocolate-bread-for-daring-bakers-better-late-than-never.html

All I did differently was replace all of the filling and replace it with a can and a half of poppy seed filling, as seen above. Super easy!