Poppy seed filling is seldom used in American cookies. In fact, the only time I see it with regularity is in Hamantashen, and even then, I’d never heard of someone making the poppy seed filling from scratch. I decided to experiment with from-scratch filling in these lemon poppy seed sandwich cookies. While you could use lemon curd as a filling for these little butter cookies dotted with poppy seeds (I wouldn’t fault you for making that splendid choice), filling the cookies with a poppy seed filling gives them more of a winter warmth.
Poppy seed filling, you’ll find, isn’t tough to make. Once you have it on hand, you can use any extra filling as a spread on toast or crackers.
To make poppy seed filling that is smooth (not gritty and crunchy), you’ll need ground poppy seeds.
Alternatively, you can buy regular poppy seeds (these should be easy to find with the spices at your local grocery store) and use a poppy seed grinder to grind them. But, that is an expensive purchase which doesn’t have much application unless you are always making desserts with poppy seeds.
If all else fails, you can use pre-made poppyseed filling. I highly encourage you to first give making your own poppy seed filling a shot with my recipe below.
Lemon Poppy Seed Sandwich Cookie Recipe
Lemon Poppy Seed Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract leave this off if you don't like a strong lemon flavor
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds
Poppy Seed Filling Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups ground poppy seeds
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Cookie Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, dissolve baking powder in lemon juice. It's fun to listen to it hiss and to watch it bubble.
- Add lemon extract, flour, butter, egg yolk, sugar, and salt. Knead the batter together either with your hands or using the dough hook on a stand mixer.
- Mix in the poppy seeds and form the dough into a small loaf.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
Poppy Seed Filling Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot on low heat, bring milk to a simmer and add poppy seeds, sugar, and honey.
- Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently until the poppy seeds absorb the milk and you have a thick paste.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
- Place the whole mixture in the blender and blend until smooth.
- Refrigerate for about 20 minutes to let the filling firm up.
Assembly and Baking Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough to 1/8" thick.
- Cut out 2 1/2" flowers or stars or whatever other shape you might like as long as there are two of each kind.
- Use a cookie cutter or a fat straw to cut a one inch hole in the centers of half of the cookies.
- Place cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown.
- Cool on a cooling rack.
- Spread poppy seed filling on all of the cookies without holes.
- Top with matching cookies to create sandwiches.
Notes
Nutrition
Hello,
I have a tried a very similar filling from this website:
http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2010/02/hamantaschen-poppy-seed-mohn-filling/
and it’s absolutely fantstic.
I was wondering though, how do you store the filling? Can I can it? freeze it?? What is your suggestion?
Thanks for the help,
Anne.
I’d store it in the fridge for a few days. If it needs to be stored longer, I’d freeze it. I’m not a canner so I can’t say how that would work.
Thank you so much for your reply :)
I made the filling… now I’ll get the kids to help me with the cookies.
Thanks for the great blog, yummy recipes and all the hints and help you give.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Anne.
I love making unusual things like this. They often turn out to be my favorite treats. And thank you for leaving a comment on my Sugar Plums today. It was such a surprise and totally made my day. Happy Holidays :)
My pleasure. Sorry it took so long. Unusual treats are my favorites!
I’ve never heard of Poppy Seed filling. I would normally use poppy seeds in the cookie not on the cookie…I’m intrigued! What does it taste like?
It is like a sweet thick jam – almost like fig jam.