Vegetarian poppy seed stollen with dates and spelt

Vegetarian poppy seed stollen made with a spelt yeast dough, rolled up with a filling of poppy seeds, milk, dates and cinnamon and sweetened with honey. For afternoon coffee and as a Christmas dessert.

At a glance

• Serves 12
• Prep time: 40 min
• Cooking time: 50 min
• Total time: 90 min
• Calories: 332 kcal per serving
• Protein: 9 g
• Fat: 15 g
• Carbs: 38 g

Ingredients

• 350ml milk
• 60g honey
• 400g spelt flour
• 1 egg
• 1 lemon
• 80g butter
• 100g dates
• 200g poppy seeds
• 30g spelt semolina
• 21g fresh yeast
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Method

You’ll need: oven · saucepan · chopping board · knife · wooden spoon · rolling pin

1. Warm 150 ml of the milk until lukewarm and dissolve the yeast and honey in it.
2. Knead the spelt flour, yeast milk, egg, salt, grated lemon zest and 60 g of the butter in pieces for 8 minutes into a smooth dough. Cover and leave it to rise for 1 hour.
3. Finely chop the dates. Cook the remaining milk with the ground poppy seeds, dates, spelt semolina and cinnamon for 5 minutes, stirring, until the mixture thickens, then let it cool.
4. Roll the dough out on baking paper into a 30 × 40 cm rectangle, spread the poppy seed filling over it and roll it up from the long side.
5. Press the roll flat in the middle with a rolling pin, fold one half slightly over the other and leave the stollen to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (160 °C fan).
6. Bake the stollen for 40 to 45 minutes and brush it with the rest of the melted butter while hot.

Good to know

In a poppy seed stollen the filling is in every layer: the dough is rolled up like a swirl and then folded into a stollen. Dates make the poppy seeds sweet and moist. Cut it open and you'll see a dark spiral.

Swaps

Dates → raisins. Spelt semolina → breadcrumbs. Honey → maple syrup. Milk → oat milk.

Cooking tips

Buy ground poppy seeds or grind them in a poppy seed mill – whole seeds hardly absorb any liquid. The filling must cool completely, otherwise the dough turns soft.

Storage

Wrapped in cling film, the poppy seed stollen keeps for 1 week somewhere cool, or 3 months in the freezer.

Allergens

Contains gluten (spelt), milk and egg; no nuts. Suitable for children in small amounts and during pregnancy.

Frequently asked questions

Can you freeze poppy seed stollen?

Wrapped in cling film, the poppy seed stollen keeps for 1 week somewhere cool, or 3 months in the freezer.