Mohnnudeln is an unusual but thoroughly delicious dish, combining tender potato noodles with a buttery, slightly nutty sweet poppy seed coating. It's comforting and works as a main or dessert - well worth finding an excuse to enjoy!
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We used to go to Austria in the summer often when I was a kid and I loved so many things about my time there. First, we often hiked and it was a whole lot better weather hiking in the sunny Alps and Dolomites than Scotland. Plus, there were mountain huts to get lunch instead of taking your own sandwich.
Then I found a few favorites food-wise, like Wiener schnitzel and the excuse to eat sweet dishes for dinner now and then. Don't get me wrong, I'm not generally a sweet tooth and loved the savory breakfasts of rolls, cheese and ham. But there's something so comforting about fluffy Kaiserschmarrn (torn pancakes) and these gently sweet noodles.
What are Mohnnudeln?
"Mohn" is the German for poppy seed, and "Nudeln" is dumpling or noodle. These are a potato-based noodle that's then coated with poppy seeds and powdered sugar to give them a tasty, gently sweet coating.
This dish comes from Waldviertel (literally forest quarter) in Lower Austria. The area is historically known for producing poppy seeds. Nowadays, the Czech Republic is the largest producer of poppy seeds which this area is not that far from.
It's a pretty frugal dish, using (for the region at least) everyday, low-cost ingredients. But the end result definitely makes the most of them. These days, you'll find the dish enjoyed in both Austria and Germany (mainly more the South), sometimes as dessert but it can be a main meal too.
Ingredients and preparation
While there's not much to them, it's fair to say making the noodles does take a little bit of time. They are similar to gnocchi and as with those, and other homemade pasta or dumplings, most of the time is repetitive forming the noodles, so you do get in the flow of things. Once formed, cooking the noodles is relatively quick.
As mentioned above, the noodles are made with potato that you cook first then combine with flour and other ingredients. Traditionally, the noodles are made by combining the cooked floury potato, flour (sometimes part rye), and usually a little butter and egg. Some don't use egg and/or butter, and some sweeten the dough a little with some powdered sugar.
The noodles are very similar to Schupfnudeln and some would say they are more a regional variation on them. German Schupfnudeln, however, typically have less flour and instead some corn or potato starch. Plus, you don't add butter in the dough.
Take care that you just rice or mash the potato rather than beat it - don't use a mixer or blender as the potato becomes gummy. Work the dough minimally, just enough so everything is combined. Then, take spoonfuls of dough and roll them into finger-like noodles. Cook them in boiling water, as you would gnocchi.
Grind the poppy seeds and mix with the sugar - you can grind them together. This then goes in with the melted butter and cooked noodles to make a tasty coating/sauce.
A great way to use leftovers
You can also make poppy seed dumplings using leftover Schupfnudeln and that's actually what I often do. I usually prepare the extra noodles as far as cooking in boiling water, then cool them and store in the fridge, rather than browning in butter for serving.
Even if the noodles are already browned, you can still cool and store and then reheat in the skillet/frying pan in the butter, before adding the poppy seed mixture.
While I often gently brown the noodles in butter first before adding the poppy seeds, as you'll see in some of the photos, more typically you more just coat in the sweetened poppy seed butter. I just really like the flavor/texture browning gives them, but I appreciate they are traditionally enjoyed more soft. Do as you prefer 🙂
These Austrian poppy seed potato noodles, Mohnnudeln, might be a less typical combination, the result is wonderfully comforting and tasty. Delicious both as freshly prepared noodles or using leftovers, it's easy and oh so good as dessert or even a meal. Be sure to enjoy soon.
Try these other comforting Austrian/German dishes:
- Germknödel (Austrian filled sweet dumplings, a deliciously comforting dessert)
- Rotkohl (German braised red cabbage with apple, a tasty versatile side dish)
- Flädlesuppe (pancake soup, with pancake 'noodles' in broth, it's wonderfully simple)
- Plus get more German recipes (including Austrian) in the archives.
Mohnnudeln, poppy seed potato noodles
Ingredients
- 1 lb Russet potatoes or similar starchy potato eg Maris Piper - 1lb is around 2 potatoes (slightly more is fine)
- 1 egg yolk
- ¾ cup all purpose flour plain flour, or a little more as needed
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
- 1 pinch salt
To serve
- ½ cup poppy seeds
- ½ cup confectioner's sugar icing sugar
- 4 tablespoon butter approximately
Instructions
- Peel the potato and cut it into large chunks. Place in a pot/pan and cover with cold water. Place on a medium heat and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat so the water simmers and cook until the potato is tender to a knifepoint. The timing will depend on the size of the pieces but it will take roughly 10 minutes after boiling, so check regularly a little before then. One tender, remove from the heat and drain - you don't want to overcook.
- Return the potatoes to the warm pot, uncovered and let the warmth help them steam and dry a little. Either place through a ricer or mash in a wide bowl/dish while they are still warm to help them lose a bit more steam. Allow to cool (some prefer to cook a day ahead, but at least not hot is best).
- Add the egg yolk, flour, butter and salt to the mashed potatoes, bring everything together and mix, but take care not to overmix. If the mixture is too sticky, add a little extra flour, but you don't want overly firm, and remember you will be rolling in flour.
- Lightly flour a clean work surface and take a small handful of the dough. Roll it out into a log, roughly 1 inch (2.5cm) diameter or slightly thinner. Cut the log into 1 inch (2.5cm) slices. Roll each piece with floured hands into finger shapes with pointed/tapered ends so they are slightly pointed on either side. Alternatively, you can just take a spoonful of the mixture, roll it then flatten to give the same finger with tapered end shape.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough and set the formed noodles aside on a floured board/baking sheet. I recommend forming all of the noodles before cooking.
- Bring a wide pot of water to a roaring boil (you want a good 2inches/5cm or more depth). Carefully add some of the noodles to the water, taking care not to overcrowd the pot. Once they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate/baking dish. Try to make sure they don't overlap or get too crowded. Repeat with additional batches.
For poppy seed sauce/serving
- Crush the poppy seeds into a powder, if not already crushed - you can use a spice grinder or pestle and mortar. Sift in the confectioner's/icing sugar then mix so evenly combined.
- When you are ready to finish the dish, warm a skillet/frying pan over a medium heat. I prefer to do one or two servings at a time as I find it easier to manage in a smaller skillet/frying pan, but do as you prefer. Melt the portion of butter for the amount you are cooking in the skillet until it is gently browned.
- Add the portion of potato noodles to the butter, turning now and then, so they are well coated. I like to gently brown and crisp them, cooking a few minutes, but more traditionally you don't, so do as you prefer. Add the portion of poppy seed-sugar mixture for the amount of noodles and toss so they are well mixed through. Serve warm, topped with a sprinkling more powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
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