Bobalki recipe

Growing up my family didn't have too many holiday traditions. Sometimes we had a Christmas tree, and sometimes we didn't. Sometimes we lit...

This meatless Slovak dish of baked bread dough balls and fried sauerkraut is typically served on holidays but can be enhanced with sausage year-round.

This meatless Slovak dish of baked bread dough balls and fried sauerkraut is typically served on holidays but can be enhanced with sausage year-round.

These Slovak Christmas dough balls are traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve as part of a 12-course meatless meal. The balls are baked until golden and crisp, then doused in boiling water before being tumbled in a sweet or savory topping. There are two options to flavor the bobalki here: tangy sauerkraut and onion, or sticky honey and poppy seeds.

Christine Toole’s Christmas tradition is a wave to her late great-grandmother and four generations of Czech descendants.

This recipe came from my grandmother to my mother and me. I always had a hard time finding the finely ground poppy seed that looks black. The stores here have poppy seed but it is not finely ground and it is grey in color. I even tried to re grind it in the food processor to no avail. I decided to try the Solo brand poppy seed. It worked out wonderful and I didn't have to cook it. I also use the frozen rolls instead of baking the braided bread. It tastes the same

Bobalky Slovak Recipe. So good.

Sweet little dough balls covered with honey and poppy seeds. I say Slovak, but they are of course also eaten in the Czech Republic.

Illustrated recipe for bobalky (also known as opekance or pupacky), sweet bread topped with poppy seeds. They make a great dessert.