Austrian Mohnstrudel (Poppy Seed Strudel)

The following Mohnstrudel recipe is made from yeast dough with an easy filling of poppy seeds, milk, sugar, butter, honey, lemon zest and cinnamon.

In addition to a short video tutorial, you will also find detailed step-by-step instructions with pictures below.

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• Ingredients and alternatives
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• Austrian Mohnstrudel Recipe (Poppy Seed Strudel)

Ingredients and alternatives

For my Mohnstrudel recipe you need the following ingredients:

For the yeast dough

• ½ cup whole milk 125ml, lukewarm - I use whole milk but you can replace very well with low-fat or also plant-based alternatives such as soy milk or oat milk
• ¼ cup caster sugar 50g
• 20 g fresh yeast ½ cube alternatively 1 pack (7g) of dry yeast
• 320 g flour ~ 2+½ cups - this recipe works with all purpose flour
  If you want to use wholewheat flour, I recommend replacing only about 50% and using 1-2 tablespoons more milk if necessary
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons butter, soft ~½ stick or 50g - use unsalted butter (!) can be replaced with clarified butter or margarine, but the strudel tastes best with butter 😉

For the poppy seed filling

• 1 cup whole milk 250ml
• ¼ cup caster sugar 50g
• 4 tablespoons butter, unsalted ~½ stick or 50g
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 cups grated poppy seeds 200g - the poppy seeds have to be grated in order to fully develop their flavor in the oven. I usually buy poppy seeds, that are already grated. You can alternatively use a grinder, blender or similar...
• 1 teaspoon rum optional

Further

• 1 egg, beaten to brush the strudel
• flour for dusting and rolling out the dough

Instructions

Dissolve sugar and yeast in the lukewarm milk. Whisk in the egg. Gradually work in the flour and room-temperature butter and knead into a smooth ball for about 5-10 minutes. You can also use a kitchen machine.

If you use dry yeast, mix with the flour in an extra bowl, before adding to the liquid ingredients.

Put in a big bowl and cover with a tea towel or plate. Leave to rest for half an hour.

In the meantime, boil milk in a saucepan and stir in butter, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, (optionally rum). Add poppy seeds and stir well. Remove from stove top and let cool down.

Attention: never pour the hot poppy seed filling onto the strudel dough!

Sprinkle the work surface with flour and roll out the yeast dough into a rectangle about 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) thick.

Spread with the cooled poppy seed mixture. Leave some space to the edges. With both your hands, carefully roll up.

The "seam" of the strudel must be at the bottom so that the mass does not flow out.

Fold in the ends and place on a baking tray, covered with a baking sheet or baking paper.

Cover with a towel and let rest for another 30 minutes.

Prick the top of the strudel several times with a fork to prevent it from "bursting" while in the oven.

Brush with a beaten egg.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven at approx. 320°F (160°C) with top and bottom heat. Enjoy!

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If you liked this Mohnstrudel recipe, you might also like the following recipes 😉

Click here for all of my traditional Austrian recipes in English.

Video