Cuisine: The Polish Palate
Course: Desserts, Baking
Diet: Vegetarian, High-Carb, High-Satiety
Occasion: Dessert & Tea Time, Comfort Food, Batch Cooking, Carnival, Fat Thursday, Easter Feasts, Christmas Feasts, Christmas Eve, Afternoon Snack, Brunch, Breakfast, Milk Bar Classics, Street Food, Culinary Heritage

Szneki z Makiem (Traditional Polish Oblong Poppy Seed Buns with Crumble)

Generous, twisted oval yeast buns heavily filled with sweet poppy seed paste, topped with a rich, buttery crumble and a sharp lemon glaze.
Prep time 45m
Temp 180°C (356°F)
Cook time 30m
Rest time 2h 20m
Total 3h 35m
Yield
8
Per serving:
824 kcal
109g Carbs
17g Protein
35g Fat
By Adam Dworak
Published: 12 October 2026
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Last Updated: 13 October 2026

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Ingredients

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Kitchen Kit

  • Large Mixing Bowl
  • Saucepan
  • Fine Mesh Sieve
  • Meat Grinder
  • Rolling Pin
  • Baking Tray
  • Baking Parchment
  • Pastry Brush
  • Whisk
  • Tea Towel
  • Sharp Knife
  • Wire rack
A pair of hands rolling up a sheet of soft yeast dough covered in a thick layer of dark poppy seed filling and scattered raisins on a flour-dusted wooden board to make Polish poppy seed buns.

Method

  1. Tip 250ml of the milk into a saucepan and bring it to a rolling boil—this takes about 5 minutes. Chuck in the poppy seeds, stir, and immediately take it off the heat. Cover and leave to scald and swell for 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, gently warm the remaining 250ml of milk to lukewarm (about 37°C). Stir in the active dry yeast, 20g of the caster sugar, and a tablespoon of the plain flour. Leave it for 10 minutes until it foams up and smells like a brewery.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together 535g of the plain flour, the salt, and 50g of the caster sugar for the dough.
  4. Separate three of the eggs. Drop the three yolks into the frothy yeast mixture (save the whites in a sealed tub in the fridge for another day). Pour this wet mix into the dry ingredients and bring it together into a shaggy dough.
  5. Tip the dough onto a surface and knead for 10 minutes. Once it feels elastic, take 75g of the softened unsalted butter and bash it into the dough piece by piece. Keep kneading until it smiles back at you—smooth, glossy, and passes the windowpane test (stretches thin enough to let light through without tearing).
  6. Pop the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let it prove in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  7. Make the crumble (kruszonka): in a small bowl, quickly rub 30g of cold unsalted butter into 50g of plain flour and 30g of icing sugar using your fingertips until it forms coarse, irregular lumps. Chuck it in the fridge to stay cold.
  8. Back to the filling: drain any excess liquid from the scalded poppy seeds through a fine-mesh sieve. You must now grind them twice through a meat grinder with a fine plate, or blitz them aggressively in a food processor until they form a dense, cohesive paste.
  9. Tip the ground seeds into a bowl. Melt 50g of the unsalted butter and stir it in along with the honey, the remaining 50g of caster sugar, the raisins, and the almond extract. Crack the fourth whole egg into the mix and beat it through to bind everything into a rich paste.
  10. Punch the risen dough down to knock the air out. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large, thin rectangle (roughly 30x50cm).
  11. Spread the poppy seed filling evenly over the entire surface, leaving a 1.5cm border at the edges. Roll the dough up loosely from the long side facing you into a log, finishing seam-side down.
  12. The "Sznek" shape: Use a sharp knife to slice the log into 8 wide pieces (about 5-6cm each). Place each piece flat on the counter. Using the handle of a knife, press down firmly across the middle of each piece, or slightly flatten and twist them on their axis. This forces the layers of poppy seed to fan outwards into a sprawling, oval, twisted shape.
  13. Transfer the shaped buns onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, leaving plenty of room for them to expand sideways. Lightly flatten each bun with your palm. Cover lightly and leave to prove for a final 30 minutes.
  14. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
  15. Crack the final fifth egg into a small bowl and beat it well. Generously brush the risen buns with the egg wash, then scatter the chilled crumble heavily over the top, gently pressing the lumps into the dough so they stick.
  16. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the buns are deep golden brown and the crumble is crisp. Pull them out and let them cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes.
  17. While they cool, whisk the remaining 100g of icing sugar with the lemon juice to make a sharp, thick glaze. Drizzle heavily over the still-warm buns, creating thick, irregular streaks.
Chef's Note & Storage
Best eaten on the day. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Reheat for 10 seconds in the microwave to wake the butter up and restore the dough's pillowy softness.
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A close-up view of a baked Polish poppy seed bun, showing tight swirls of dark poppy seed filling, topped with golden buttery crumble and a thick drizzle of sweet white icing.

Poznań’s Pride, The Aristocracy of Yeast Dough

Walk into a traditional bakery in the Wielkopolska or Kujawy regions of Poland first thing in the morning, and instead of generic round buns, you’ll see these: massive, flat, heavily glazed szneki z makiem. The name is borrowed from the German word for snail (Schnecke), but what the Poles have done with it is pure poetry. A proper szneka isn't a tight, boring spiral sliced from a log. It’s a long, twisted ribbon of yeast dough generously laden with poppy seeds, manipulated into a sprawled oval, and then smothered in a crisp crumble and sharp icing. There is no room for stinginess here—a szneka must be the size of a hand, heavy with filling, and finished so aggressively that you get crumble and glaze on your nose with every bite.

CHEF'S SECRET: The Twist and the Cold Crumble. Slicing the log into thick strips and twisting or pressing them down firmly forces the dark poppy seed layers to fan outwards, creating that iconic sprawled oval shape rather than a tight cinnamon roll spiral. For the crumble, keep the butter cold. Don't melt it; rub it into the flour and sugar to create hard, irregular pebbles that stay seriously crunchy in the oven.

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The Art of the Braid and Crunch

What sets a szneka apart from a standard sweet bun is the violent texture clash. You have pillowy dough and a sweet, moist, raisin-studded poppy seed filling, contrasted with a stubbornly crunchy crumble that protects the bake from drying out. Spread the poppy seed paste thin enough to create multiple delicate layers when rolled. Most importantly, don't be afraid to flatten them with your palm right before baking—these are meant to be sprawling, rustic, flat beauties, not plump, perfect spheres.

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