My Mother's Nut Rolls

At this time of year, you can find these rolls being sold everywhere in this city.  They are sold in every grocery store, bakery and church.  I use my mother's recipe from over 55 years ago.

My recipe calls for a cooked walnut filling.

2# roughly ground walnuts

 1 C. milk

1-1/2 C. sugar

2 T. butter

2 egg yolks

pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat the milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves and then mix in the rest of the ingredients.  Cook for a few minutes until it begins to thicken.  Set it aside to cool completely. 

The Dough:

2-1/2 tsp. rapid rise yeast

1/4 C. warm water

1 C. milk

1/2 C. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/3 C. butter

2 well beaten eggs

4-1/2 C. flour

Dissolve yeast in water.  Add it to all other ingredients, except flour, in your mixer bowl.  Add the flour, cup by cup, and knead this until a smooth ball forms.  Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover and let rise for about 2 hours.  This dough does not rise a lot. This recipe makes 2 nut rolls.

 Split the dough in 2 equal pieces and roll each piece out to about 1/8th inch.  Brush with melted butter. Spread half of the walnut mixture over the dough.

Spread it to about an inch of the perimeter.

 Roll the dough to the opposite end.

Place seam side down on a parchment covered cookie sheet.  Brush with butter.

 Let the rolls rise for about an hour.

 Bake in a 375 degree over for 45-50 minutes until they reach an internal temperature of 190 degrees.  You can cover them with foil half way through the baking time if they are browning too much.

 Cool on racks and then wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator.

My mom died in 1964 but I think she would get a kick out of me baking these all these years later.  I make a lot of her Easter recipes though I don't really remember Easter dinners with her.