Buttery cookies speckled with black poppy seeds and flavored with orange zest, poppy seed cookies are easy to make. Perfect with a cup of tea!
Melt in your mouth buttery, not too sweet, subtly flavored with orange, topped by a single chocolate chip, these poppy seed cookies are a family favorite. My mom treats us with these cookies every Christmas.
Since poppy seed cookies aren’t really a traditional Dutch Christmas cookie, I asked why she always includes them on her Christmas cookie platter.
Her reason was simple and practical: she always whips up cinnamon meringues at Christmas, using two egg whites. What should she do with the leftover egg yolks? Look through her cookbooks and find a recipe for cookies which calls for exactly two egg yolks! I guess that’s how traditions are born.
Reminds me of the story of the bride cutting off both ends of the ham before baking it. When her curious husband asked why she cut the ends off, she said her mother always cooked hams that way. Turns out her mother simply had a roasting pan that was a bit too small.
I did a bit of research and found that poppy seed cookies are a traditional “old fashioned” cookie originally made by Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews, according to Wikipedia. You might know them as Mohn kichel, or Mun or Munn cookies, or even “Moon” cookies. “Mohn” is German for poppy.
So brew a cup of tea or better yet, orange hot chocolate, and enjoy a poppy seed cookie! Perhaps they’ll become a tradition in your family, too!
About these cookies
There’s nothing fancy or tricky about making these easy cookies. Simply cream together softened butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla. Stir in the flour, poppy seeds, and orange zest. You can do it by hand, a mixer isn’t necessary.
Form the dough into balls, flatten slightly, and place one chocolate chip in the center. Bake until just lightly browned. So easy!
What You’ll Need
- Butter: Always choose unsalted butter for baking, unless otherwise directed. If you only have salted butter, you can use it but omit the salt in the recipe. Allow the butter to come to room temperature.
- Sugar: These cookies aren’t overly sweet. There’s only a half a cup of sugar in this recipe.
- Flour: Measure the flour by spooning it out of your canister and lightly adding it to a dry measure measuring cup, leveling the top with a knife. Don’t shake it down or compact it.
- Poppy seeds: These tiny seeds add crunch, texture, and visual appeal to the cookies, not to mention good nutrition.
- Grated orange zest: You’ll want the zest to be pretty finely grated. Wash the orange first and try not to zest the white part (pith) because it tends to be bitter.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract gives a nice warm sweet flavor to the cookies.
- Pinch of salt: You’ll find that cookies taste flat if you don’t add a pinch of salt.
- Chocolate chips: Just one for each cookie! You’ll need about a half cup.
Poppy seeds can be used in baked goods such as cakes, muffins, tarts, or cookies. Sometimes they are soaked in water or milk to soften the outer shell before being added to cakes or fillings.
Looking for more recipes with poppy seeds? Try Poppy Seed Dressing, Lemon Poppy Seed Cottage Cheese Pancakes, or Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Bread.
Storing Poppy Seeds
Because poppy seeds have natural oils like most seeds and nuts, they will go rancid after a while. Store them in the fridge or freezer to keep them fresh. There’s no need to thaw them before using.
Make It Your Own
- Substitute lemon zest for the orange.
- Roll the cookie dough into logs, refrigerate until firm, and cut slices to bake, or try these lemon poppyseed slice and bakes.
- Omit the chocolate chip on each cookie, if desired. Right before serving, top the cookies with jam, just a dab, any kind you like.
- Substitute 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour.
- Try this non-dairy poppy seed cookie made with oil instead of butter, by The Spruce Eats, as an alternative.
Cool completely and store in a tightly covered container for up to two weeks. Poppy seed cookies freeze beautifully. Simply wrap them well and freeze for up to a couple of months.
More Old Fashioned Cookie Recipes
I love paging through the stained pages of well-used school or church cookbooks or hearing about Grandma’s wonderful cookies. Here’s a few recipes I’d like to share:
- Oh Henry Bars — my grandma brought these to every family get-together and potluck
- Snickerdoodles
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Sand Tart Cookies (Slice & Bake Buttery Sugar Cookies)
- Windmill Cookies (Speculoos)
- Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- GingerSnaps
- Mom’s Russian Tea Cakes by Crazy For Crust
I’d love to hear about cookie traditions in your family!
Poppy Seed Cookies with Orange
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ cup chocolate chips, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cream butter, salt, vanilla, and sugar. Add egg yolks. Blend in flour, poppy seeds, and orange zest..
- Form one inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press one chocolate chip in the middle of each cookie. Flatten each ball slightly with spatula.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until very lightly browned.
- Cool slightly, remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Yield depends on size of cookies. Nutrition information is based on 1 cookie per serving.
- If desired, use lemon zest instead of orange zest.
- Substitute 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Have been a baker for 40+ years and these are ‘hands down’ one of the best cookies ever and dipped in hot tea is heaven. So simple to make, and freeze well (if you have any that last that long). Mail cookies to many folks and these hold up super well. The cream cheese is the secret key ingredient. Tip: sprinkle yellow colored sugar on the top of each cookie as well.
So happy you enjoy the cookies!
they sound delicious. I love how you give the history on recipes.
Thanks Denise, I appreciate that!