Polish Onion Rolls {Cebulaki; Cebularze}
Cebulaki [tseh-boo-lah-kee] or cebularze [tseh-boo-lah-rge] are soft yeast rolls, covered in sautéed onions mixed with spices and poppy-seeds, baked until golden brown. They are further proof of Polish creativity in using simple ingredients to make something exceptional. Frugal doesn’t have to mean boring, as a matter of fact, quite the opposite. A few ingredients that you most likely already have in your pantry can be turned into a delicious new meal.
I first saw these savory rolls being made when I was visiting my grandmother’s side of the family in the central region of Poland. Grandma came from a small farming village outside the city of Łódź, where the main agricultural products were potatoes, cabbage, beets and onions. Family referred to them as cebulaki but they are also known as and famous by the name cebularze. They come from the city of Lublin in the east south part of Poland and they come form Jewish cooking. Recipes go back to pre World War I era.
We spent most of our summers there as kids, helping with some of the farm chores, but mainly just playing in the orchard, picking cherries of and scaring the chickens. This multi-generational household knew how to make sure their crops are utilized to last through the year, until the next season’s harvest.
All ingredients for this dish were plentiful, but were always prized, respected, and treated as if the future of a full pantry was never guaranteed… which was true for many Polish households that depended on an unpredictable harvest. Cebulaki was a great, portable food that could be grabbed in between chores without stopping. Prepared ahead of time, they would wait under a cover of a kitchen towel, to disappear in minutes when hunger struck.
I could eat at least 3 straight out of the oven, if there was no one to share with.
Polish Onion Rolls {Cebulaki; cebularze}
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp / 110 g of butter
- 1 c / 225 ml warm milk
- 2 ½ c / 450 g of all-purpose flour (+ ½ c for blooming yeast)
- 1 tbsp of dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 eggs yolks (+ 1 egg white)
- 1 tsp of oil
- TOPPING:
- 2 ½ c of sliced onion
- 2 tbsp / 30 g of butter
- ¼ tsp of salt
- ¼ tsp of ground black pepper
- 1 ½ tbsp of poppyseeds
Instructions
Melt butter, set aside to cool.
Place warm milk and ½ cup of flour in a mixing bowl, add yeast and sugar. Mix well and let yeast bloom until bubbles appear (about 10-15 minutes).
In a mixing bowl, place the rest of the flour, add bloomed yeast mixture and, with the hook attachment of a stand mixer, start mixing. Add butter, salt, and egg yolks and continue mixing until combined. Keep kneading for another 10 minutes. If not using a mixer, place your ingredients in a large bowl and work with your hands to form a dough ball. Transfer onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and let rest and rise for 1-2 hours (or until the dough doubles in size).
Line a 9 x 11 inch / 23 x 28 centimeter baking pan with parchment paper.
Remove dough from bowl and place on floured surface. Fold 3-4 times and create an even log. Cut log into 8 relatively even pieces. From each piece, form a ball and place on parchment paper. Cover with a cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, cut the onion in half and into slices. In a medium pan, heat butter, add onion, salt, pepper and sauté until translucent. Once cooked, turn off, add poppyseeds and stir to combine.
Preheat oven to 395°F / 200°C.
After rolls have been resting for about 30 minutes, flatten them lightly with your fingers. Whisk 1 egg white and brush over rolls, then cover evenly with sautéed onions.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before moving onto a cooling rack.
Serve warm or cold.
Enjoy for breakfast, lunch or a snack.
Happy cooking and smacznego!
Anna
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These are delicious! Next time, I am planning on making smaller rolls but the taste was awesome.
Awesome!!
I love your recipes and your writing! I wonder, are cebulaki the forbears of bialys? Yours look tastier, though, baked to that rich golden brown.
Thank you Anna,
I’ve been trying to find the recipe for fried cabbage to which is added flour and butter. My cousin made it when he came to England around 60years ago. I have eaten this once since then but still couldn’t get the recipe until now!
I can’t wait to make it!
It is such a wonderful dish which my British husband has heard about for nearly 50years! Now he can try this amazing dish!
Thank you again.
Kind regards
Elaine
Yes!! How did it turn out for you?
These were very good. The oven temperature was a bit hot, though. Next time I will bake them at all 75 F so the onions don’t burn.
Sure, I find different ovens cooking at different speed… gotta keep an eye on those beauties. 😊
No, I use an oven thermometer, so temperatures are very precise. 395 is wayyyyyyy too high for 30-35 minutes, this would make ‘carbon pucks’, LOL. 375 for 12-15 minutes is more like it.
OMG Thank you!!!! My grandfather was from Lodz, well he was from Pennsylvania but his parents came over from Lodz in the early 1900s. Back to my grandfather, he opened up a restaurant in Chicago called The Polish Village. I cook all of his recipes but I could not find his recipe for these rolls. I did not know the name of them, so I have been searching for years. I have not had them since I was a small child but I remember the unique flavor and am so happy I finally got to relive the memory through this recipe. Thank you!!!!!!
That’s awesome! Please explore more! 🙂
Incredible recipe! I followed it precisely and it came out so delicious. I generally cook vegan/plant-based in my household, and next time I may try it with an egg substitute. I also want to say – I do not know much of my Polish family, but cooking my way through your website helps me feel closer to my unknown ancestors. Thank you so much for your commitment to this work and sharing these beautiful recipes!
Thank you Steph and keep cooking!! 😊
Good rolls. The dough was quite sticky, thankfully I had my handy scraper. Shorter cooking time for me, only needed 12-15 minutes.
We had a Polish food fest and I made these rolls. They were delicious. I followed your instructions and it was perfect. It seemed like a very wet dough but I added the 3TBSPat the end and it came together perfectly. We plan on making these again just when we need some fabulous rolls! I did leave out the poppy seeds since we did not have any.
Good job Rico!
Perfect roll with any meal.
Great recipe for rolls.
When I was growing up in Detroit, Michigan (many years ago), every Sunday our local corner store would get bagels, Kaiser rolls and onion rolls from a Jewish bakery. The onion rolls looked very similar to your rolls, BUT some of the onion mixture was also mixed into the dough, not just baked on top. They were delicious. Have you ever tried mixing some of the onion into the dough? I think I may try that soon, using your recipe.
I thought about doing that on my last batch. I think next time I will try, but dice onions instead of slicing. Thanks!
Hello, is this recipe for 9 or 18 rolls? Recipe says it makes 9 but instructions state to cut roll in half and then cut each half into 9 portions which would equal 18. Looking to make for my Christmas dinner and not sure if I need to double the recipe or not. Found your channel recently and I am loving you and your recipes. Nice job!!!
yes, this (and some of the other instructions) are not very clear. Apparently you would make 18 rolls, or 9 hamburger sized buns. Also, there is no way physically possible to put all 18 into the 9 x 11 baking pan!!! These are simple biscuits, not chebulaki, as too much fat. Search authentic jewish/polish bread recipes yourself; as this one has 4 yolks vs. one or no eggs, a full stick of butter vs. a couple of Tbsp, plus a cup of milk vs. half a cup of water to activate the yeast. Don’t get me wrong this is a nice “fatty” biscuit recipe, but not the traditional bread. ( It turns out more ‘cake-like’, similar to a babka in texture)
Allison- this makes 18. I just made them this evening. Thanks for pointing out that discrepancy. They would be too big if it were only 9. I got 18 that are a little over 3” in diameter. They turned out really good. The dough is so light and delicious. I think you could use the dough for other things too.
I followed the recipe exactly as listed except for adding extra caramelized onions and poppyseed inside the dough as well. I wanted large buns for sandwiches and burgers so I made 8 very large rolls. They came out perfect, light and airy. My bake time was only 25 minutes. They are delicious, I will definitely be making these again.
The cups to grams conversion seems off. When I weigh out 2.5 cups, weighs out to 300 grams not 450 .
Any thoughts?
I don’t sift my flour, do you?