1 cup poppy seeds

1/3 cup apricot jam

3/4 cup soy milk

1/3 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped almonds (chop and then measure!)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees C.

2.M

5. Combine all the ingredients of the poppy seed filling except the almonds and maple syrup in a small saucepan.

6. Put on a low heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer until all the liquid is absorbed and the mix becomes a stiff paste.Remove from heat and stir through the almonds and maple syrup.

7. Cut yourself a piece of paper into an 8cm by 8cm square to use as a template (this is optional, but it is good to ensure that all your kolache end up the same size).

8. Roll out 1/4 of the pastry dough to about 1/2 cm thick and cut it into squares using the template. There should be plenty of dough so you shouldn’t need to scrounge extra squares out of tiny left over bits.

9. Pace 2 tsp of the filling along the centre of the square diagonally (see pic):

10. Bring the two corners over the top and press down gently on them to form a cylinder (see pic):

11. Repeat with using up the rest of the filling mix (you may have a bit of pastry dough left over – you can save this and make another batch of filling sometime or you can use it up by using anything you like in the fillling – such as fruit [fresh or canned], nuts or chocolate).

12. Place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes (you will need to turn the tray around about 15 minutes into the baking time to ensure even cooking).

13. Cool on the tray before serving. You may like to dust them with some icing sugar for prettiness before serving (I didn’t have any!!).