This gluten-free poppy seed roll is a delicious treat. It’s made with a yeasted whole-grain dough and a rich butter and poppy seed filling. Unlike most GF treats, it stays fresh for up to a week!
This is based on a recipe that Max found in one of our favorite cookbooks. Over time, I adapted into a gluten-free recipe and adjusted the filling to suit our taste. But I only decided to formally write down the recipe after his fourth time making it! He loves it that much.
One of the best things about this recipe is that it doesn’t go stale! As any GF person knows, most gluten-free baking has a pretty short best-before date.
I think it’s the combination of a really moist, flavorful filling and a sweet buttery dough that helps this pastry stay fresh. We usually make this roll, to serve as our mid-morning snack for a whole week. (It fits into my kids’ lunch containers… and is perfect next to my cup of tea).
Gluten-free baking tips
Gluten-free baking is always a bit trickier than regular baking. It just doesn’t have the structure provided by gluten.
Luckily, this recipe is pretty robust. I’ve tested it with GF oat flour and white rice flour. It will probably work with your favorite GF flour. Here are a few tips if you’re struggling to get the dough into a good consistency.
- The dough needs to be quite stiff (like gingerbread cookie dough). If it seems too soft after you’ve added all the ingredients, you can add a bit more flour. However, the dough needs to rise, which gives the flour time to hydrate. So it will be drier after the initial rising time.
- GF dough is fragile. I recommend rolling it out on parchment or a pastry mat. Then you can pick up the pastry mat to help you form the roll. It can also act like a sling to help you transfer the roll to your baking sheet.
I love poppy seed rolls, but havenโt had any in more than a decade, so I was excited when I found your recipe. I made them yesterday, and many things went wrong, but they still came out delicious.
My soaked poppy seeds absorbed all but 1-2 tsp of the milk, which tasted awfully bitter. I made a note to try more hot milk next time.
My good-but-old blender barely worked on the poppy seeds. Iโll try a food processor next time.
Worst of all, I didnโt correct the dough texture before rising. Mine was not stiff before or after the rise. So, when I rolled it out, it was obviously WAY too soft to roll out (close to a pudding texture). I estimate that Iโd needed at least 1/2-1 cup more oat flour, maybe because I measure flour with light spoonfuls.
I didnโt feel like giving up, so I kept adding tapioca starch. On the dough, parchment and rolling pin. I likely added 2/3 cup of tapioca starch.
The silicone mat seemed optional, but I added a baking-sheet-sized one in the middle of rolling out. With too-wet dough, it now seemed mandatory. I finally got the dough rolled out, filled and formed into a roll. It was still soft enough to mostly patch any torn parts. I transferred it to the baking sheet by lifting the silicone mat from my parchment paper to the baking sheet.
I had low expectations after all my mistakes, but the finished product was delicious. Perhaps I overcooked it a bit, but a little crunch was nice. I used 1/4 cup coconut sugar in the filling, so it wasnโt overly sweet, which was great. We havenโt finished eating it yet, but I already want to make another batch, so I can correct my errors.
Next time Iโll probably start with 1 1/2 cups of oat flour. And I wonโt be afraid to add a lot of tapioca starch if needed.
Thank you for sharing the recipe. Poppy seed rolls are a very fond memory for me, so I appreciate your giving me a chance to eat them again.
Elaine,
Beaverton OR
Glad you liked it! GF recipes always require a bit of adjusting for the amount of flour. They are less forgiving than wheat flour for changes between oat flour, rice, etc. and the size of eggs. ๐ Emillie