By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 14, 2026
180 min
Chocolate-Poppy Seed Kokosh
Recipe GLPR7fec675044b6b6
A traditional Eastern European sweet bread with a rich chocolate and poppy seed filling. This tender, slightly tangy dough is enriched with eggs and butter, then wrapped around a luscious mixture of ground poppy seeds, cocoa, sugar, and hints of coffee and orange. Baked until golden, this elegant pastry delivers layers of soft dough with a distinctive, nutty-chocolatey center.
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Ingredients
2¼ teaspoons Active dry yeast
¼ cup Warm water (110°F)
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon Sugar for dough
3 cups All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
⅓ cup Orange juice for dough
3 Large eggs
½ cup Unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Poppy seeds
½ cup Cocoa powder
1 cup Sugar for filling
½ cup Whole milk
½ teaspoon Instant coffee powder
1½ teaspoons Vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Orange juice for filling
Directions
In a small bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes until foamy, indicating the yeast is active.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining sugar (about 1/4 cup), and kosher salt.
Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the yeast mixture, orange juice, 2 of the eggs, and softened butter to the well.
Mix until the ingredients come together into a shaggy dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
While the dough rises, prepare the filling: Process the poppy seeds in a food processor until finely ground. In a saucepan, combine the ground poppy seeds, cocoa powder, sugar, milk, instant coffee powder, and a pinch of salt.
Cook the filling mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes until thickened and the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and orange juice. Allow to cool slightly.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down and transfer to a floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, roughly 16 by 12 inches.
Spread the cooled poppy seed-chocolate filling evenly over the entire surface of the dough, leaving a small border on all sides.
Starting from one long side, tightly roll the dough into a log. Place the roll seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and coil it into a spiral shape, tucking the end underneath.
Cover the shaped pastry with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until puffy.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg with a fork to make an egg wash.
Brush the egg wash over the entire surface of the kokosh, then bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and a kitchen thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the dough (not touching filling) reads at least 160°F internally.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.
Comments
Kokosh is a Hungarian-Jewish sweet bread that finds a comfortable home in Charlotte's Jewish and international communities, and all the ingredients are routine grocery-store stock at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Kroger, or Walmart—no special trips required. The stated three-hour total time is honest for the full rise, shape, and bake, though a home baker should budget an extra thirty minutes for the first rise if the kitchen is cool. The cost per serving lands around $0.75 to $1.00 depending on butter prices, which is reasonable for a yeast cake that yields eight to ten slices and keeps well wrapped for three days. The caveat is that this is a weekend project: the dough needs attentive folding and shaping, the flavors of chocolate, poppy, and orange are sophisticated rather than crowd-pleasing to young children, and leftovers are best eaten within a day or two, toasted if they've gone slightly stale.
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