No Slovak Christmas would be complete without Bobalki bread! Baked in the oven and sprinkled with poppy seeds, Bobalki balls are bursting with delicious flavor and are sure to satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth.
➜ What is Bobalki bread?
Bobalki bread is a traditional Slovak Christmas dish made of yeast dough balls baked in the oven. Once out of the oven, the bread balls are covered with hot milk to soak up.
Ultimately, they are sprinkled with ground poppy seeds and sweetened with warm honey or powdered sugar. A bit of melted butter drizzled on top crowns the overall dish.
⇢ Check out more Slovak recipes!
I made bobalki balls at the end of this spring when it was still relatively cool outside, and the dish vanished from the table in an instant! I enjoy the flavor of poppy seeds because I am a true Czech, and it makes me happy to know that my family shares this passion!
NOTE: You should know that bobalki can be prepared in many different ways throughout Slovakia. In some regions, they are eaten with sauerkraut, while in others, Slovak people prefer the sweet version with honey and poppy seeds.
This particular recipe comes from the eastern part of Slovakia, where Slovakia borders Ukraine and Poland to the north.
Another Slovak name for Bobalki is Opékance. The correct Slovak spelling of the word Bobalki is then Bobáľky.
➜ Ingredients
Everything you need to make homemade bobalki bread from scratch.
For yeast dough:
- All-purpose flour
- Eggs; at room temperature
- Granulated sugar; do not add too much, the sweet taste is created by the poppy seed sprinkles
- Milk; lukewarm
- Active dry yeast
- Fat; sunflower oil or Canola. You can substitute the oil with butter or pork lard softened at room temperature.
- Salt; a pinch for taste contrast
To finish:
- Milk; warm
- Ground poppy seeds
- Powdered sugar; some recipes use warm honey
- Butter; for drizzling
Size of the baking dish: To bake Bobalki, I used a 9x13-inch baking pan. If you bake Bobalki with the amount of ingredients listed in the recipe card below, this size will work well for you.
➜ How to make Bobalki
STEP 1: Heat about half a cup of milk until it is lukewarm, not hot. Stir in half a teaspoon of sugar, a tablespoon of flour and the yeast. Let the yeast starter rise in a warm place for about 10-15 minutes.
STEP 2: Put the flour in a bowl, add the rest of the lukewarm milk, raised yeast starter, an egg and the rest of the sugar. Knead briefly. Then add the fat and salt and knead until smooth.
MY TIP: I let the dough knead in a stand mixer with a hook. The result is always perfect, saving me a lot of effort and time. I knead on speed 3 for 10 minutes.
STEP 3: Cover the dough with a clean tea towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in volume.
STEP 4: Turn the raised dough out onto a floured surface and knead briefly. Divide into three equal-sized pieces and roll into strands about ¾ inch thick.
STEP 5: Cut the strands into pieces of the same size. Roll each piece into a ball between your palms. Leave the formed dough balls on the work surface.
TIP: To save time, skip the step of shaping the individual pieces of dough into balls. The shapes may not be as uniform after baking, but their taste won't suffer.
STEP 6: Cover the dough balls with a tea towel and leave to rise for 15-20 minutes.
STEP 7: Pour about a tablespoon of sunflower or canola oil into the baking dish or cookie sheet. Carefully take each ball in your hand (they should be nice and fluffy) and roll them in the oil on all sides.
Start placing the balls in the pan. They don't have to be close together; leave a little space between them.
TIP: You don't need to line a baking sheet with parchment paper. As I describe, it is just enough to dip the balls in oil on all sides. Personally tested, it works!
STEP 8: Bake in oven preheated to 400°F/200°C ( upper and lower heat) for 15 minutes or until Bobalki surface turns golden brown.
STEP 9: Let cool for a while. Then separate the individual balls and transfer them to a large deep bowl.
➜ Serving
Before serving, pour hot milk over bobalki – the bread balls will soak up the milk. Sprinkle with ground poppy seeds whisked with powdered sugar. Finally, drizzle with melted butter and stir until combined.
Serve as a warm, sweet dessert by spooning portions out of the large bowl and into small serving bowls.
Slovaks often prepare poppy seed bobalki for both Christmas and Easter!
➜ How to store & reheat Bobalki
Like any yeasted pastry, Bobalki bread loses some softness the next day. Pouring hot milk over it always helps to make the balls beautifully soft again.
I recommend serving individual portions directly in a small bowl if you have only a few eaters. Take a handful of bobalki, pour hot milk over them, sprinkle with poppy seeds and sugar and drizzle with butter.
Cover the remaining bobalki balls (not soaked in milk) with plastic wrap, place in the refrigerator, and use in about 3-4 days.
To reheat the bobalki, pour hot milk over them and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Alternatively, you can microwave them for a while.
➜ Useful tips
- Brushing the raised balls with oil will ensure they will separate nicely after baking and not tear.
- Bobalki balls are not very sweet. That's why in some regions of Slovakia they are prepared on the salty side with sauerkraut.
- In the old days, bobalki with poppy seeds was placed in a large bowl in the middle of the table, and everyone scooped into their bowl as much as they could eat.
More Slovak recipes:
- Paska bread (Slovak Easter bread)
- Slovak nut roll
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Slovak Bobalki Recipe
Equipment
- 1 9x13 inch baking dish
Ingredients
Yeast dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 g)
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ⅔ cup milk warm
- 2 Tablespoons sunflower oil or Canola
- 1 prise salt
Finishing:
- 1 cup poppy seeds ground
- 4 Tablespoons powdered sugar heaped
- ½ cup milk hot
- 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter melted
Misc.:
- 1 Tablespoon sunflower oil to dip the balls when placing them in a baking dish
Instructions
- Yeast starter: Heat about half a cup of milk until it is lukewarm, not hot. Stir in half a teaspoon of sugar, a tablespoon of flour and the yeast. Let the yeast starter rise in a warm place for about 10-15 minutes.
- Put the flour in a bowl, add the rest of the lukewarm milk, raised yeast starter, an egg and the rest of the sugar. Knead briefly. Then add the fat and salt and knead until smooth.
- Cover the dough with a clean tea towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in volume.
- Turn the raised dough out onto a floured surface and knead briefly. Divide into three equal-sized pieces and roll into strands about ¾ inch thick.
- Cut the strands into pieces of the same size. Roll each piece into a ball between your palms. Leave the formed dough balls on the work surface.
- Cover the dough balls with a tea towel and leave to rise for 15-20 minutes.
- Pour about a tablespoon of sunflower or canola oil into the baking dish or cookie sheet. Carefully take each ball in your hand (they should be nice and fluffy) and roll them in the oil on all sides.
- Start placing the balls in the pan. They don't have to be close together; leave a little space between them.
- Bake in oven preheated to 400°F/200°C ( upper and lower heat) for 15 minutes or until Bobalki surface turns golden brown.
- Let cool for a while. Then separate the individual balls and transfer them to a large deep bowl.
Notes
- Makes 4 generous portions.
- SERVING: Before serving, pour hot milk over bobalki – the bread balls will soak up the milk. Sprinkle with ground poppy seeds whisked with powdered sugar. Finally, drizzle with melted butter and stir until combined.
- Serve as a warm, sweet dessert by spooning portions out of the large bowl and into small serving bowls.
- Bobalki balls are not very sweet. That's why in some regions of Slovakia they are prepared on the salty side with sauerkraut.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
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