Kūčiukai

Kūčiukai are small, slightly sweet baked goods from Lithuania, made from leavened dough and poppy seeds and also called Christmas cakes. They belong to Kūčios, the traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve dinner, where they are usually eaten dry, though they can also be soaked in poppy milk or served with cranberry kissel. The older Kūčia dish was a preparation of wheat, beans, peas, barley and poppies seasoned with honey, and the small poppy seed buns known today began to be baked in Lithuania only after the First World War. Regional forms differed: in Dzūkija a flatbread was broken and soaked in poppy milk, and in Suvalkija the buns were larger and elongated. Housewives were expected to bake them on the day of Christmas Eve, and the buns also served in games, guessing and spells on that night.