Sweet Italian Nut Roll Food

BASIC SWEET-ROLL DOUGH

Steps:

• Warm 1/2 cup water and the milk in a saucepan over low heat until a thermometer registers 100 degrees F to 110 degrees F. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the yeast on top, then sprinkle with a pinch of the sugar; set aside, undisturbed, until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk the melted butter, egg yolk and vanilla into the yeast mixture until combined. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, the remaining sugar, the salt and nutmeg. Make a well in the center, then add the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to make a thick and slightly sticky dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until soft and elastic, about 6 minutes. Shape into a ball.
• Brush a large bowl with butter. Add the dough, turning to coat lightly with the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour, 15 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and knead briefly to release excess air; re-form into a ball and return to the bowl. Lightly butter a large piece of plastic wrap and lay it directly on the surface of the dough. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

SWEET ITALIAN NUT ROLL

Steps:

• 1. Add yeast to milk and water. Mix with 3 cups of the flour. Let stand for 1/2 hour. Add the remainder of the flour, eggs, sugar, butter, and salt. Knead until elastic (about 4 minutes). Let rise 2 hours until doubled in bulk.
• 2. Heat the ingredients for the filling together, blend well and let cool.
• 3. When dough is through rising, divide into 5 or 6 equal parts. Let rest on floured board for 15 minutes.
• 4. Roll out in long pieces, as if for jelly roll. Lay down your filling to cover dough completely and roll up.
• 5. Put on greased cookie sheets, seam side down (2-3) per pan; tuck ends under to seal. Let rise again, about 25 minutes.
• 6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
• 7. ADDED NOTE: Nuts should be very finely chopped. Best way to achieve this is by using a food processor.

GREAT-GRANDMA'S PRUNE ROLL

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add the butter, shortening, egg yolks, sugar and salt and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Cover and refrigerate overnight., In a large saucepan, cook plums in water 12-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Mash; add sugar and lemon juice. Cook for 8-10 minutes over low heat until thickened. Cool and refrigerate., Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 3-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Dot with butter; sprinkle with cinnamon. Spread about 1/3 cup plum filling down the center of each. , Fold a third of the dough lengthwise over filling. Fold remaining dough over top; pinch seams to seal and tuck ends under. Place seam side down in two greased 15x10x1-in. baking pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until doubled. , Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Combine the glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves.

ITALIAN-STYLE ROLLS

Steps:

• Place the kneader attachment onto the stand mixer.
• Proof the yeast with 1 teaspoon sugar in 3/4 cup water for 10 minutes or until foamy.
• In the stainless steel mixing bowl place 3-1/2 cups flour, salt, 1 tablespoon sugar and melted butter.
• When the yeast has proofed add to the bowl along with 3/4 cup warm water.
• Start kneading adding in more flour only if needed (total kneading time should take about 8 minutes) do not add in too much flour or the buns will be heavy, when finished kneading the dough should feel soft but semi-sticky and smooth and should stick to your hands only slightly when removing from the bowl.
• Remove the dough to a very lightly flour-dusted surface; cover with clean tea towel and let rest 5 minutes.
• Shape into a ball (the dough will come together nicely after resting).
• Place into a large greased deep glass bowl.
• Cover and let rise for about 60-90 minutes.
• To check if the dough is ready to be punched down, very gently stick two fingers about 1/2-inch into the dough, the dough is ready when the finger marks remain.
• Punch down dough and slice in half.
• Slice each half into 4 even pieces.
• Shape each piece into a round ball.
• Place balls spacing well apart onto a 10 x 15-inch greased baking sheet (2 balls across and 4 balls down).
• Cover and let rise 30-40 minutes.
• Bake at 375 for about 22 minutes or until light golden brown.

OLD WORLD POPPY SEED ROLL

Steps:

• Place poppy seeds into a food processor and process until seeds are ground, about 1 minute.
• Mix poppy seeds with 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, lemon juice, and hot milk in a bowl; stir to combine. Cover poppy seed filling and refrigerate while making bread (filling will set up and thicken as it chills).
• Mix yeast with water and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Allow to stand until the yeast forms a creamy layer.
• Whisk flour with salt in a bowl; use a pastry cutter to cut 1/4 cup butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Pour yeast mixture and egg yolk into flour mixture and stir to make a soft dough.
• Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth and slightly springy, about 5 minutes. If dough is too sticky, knead in more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time.
• Cut dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
• Spread half the poppy seed filling over each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold the 1-inch border back over the filling on all sides and press down.
• Pick up the shorter side of a dough rectangle and roll it like a jelly roll; repeat with second rectangle. Pinch ends together or tuck ends under to prevent filling from leaking out.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; place rolls seam sides down on the baking sheet and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat egg white in a bowl until frothy; brush the rolls with beaten egg white.
• Bake in preheated oven until dark golden brown on top, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cover rolls with a clean kitchen towel until cool to keep crust soft. Cool completely before slicing.

WALNUT NUT ROLLS (NUT ROLL)

Steps:

• Dough: Dissolve yeast in milk with sugar. Add butter, salt, and egg yolks.
• Stirring to mix. Add 2 cups flour and mix well, add remaining flour. Knead 5 minutes.
• Divide dough into 3-4 parts, cover and let rise while preparing filling.
• Filling: Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Roll out each portion of dough to an 1/8 inch thickness in a rectangle shape. Spread an equal amount of filling on each portion on dough. Roll up jelly roll fashion and let raise 15-20 minutes.
• Brush with egg whites before baking. (I accidentally forgot to do this one year and have decided we like it better without the egg wash.) Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
• Once cool, top with icing, if desired.
• Icing: Cream butter and egg yolk. Then add confectioner's sugar a cup at a time beating on medium speed. Add vanilla and milk 1 Tbls. at a time and beat on high until fluffy.

CABINKAT'S SWEET KOLACHé NUT ROLL

Steps:

• In very large bowl, dissolve yeast in water and let set until foamy, about 10 minutes.
• Add melted butter, salt, egg yolks, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Mix well.
• Add flour to mix slowly until it forms nice dough. Should not be tacky. Add a bit more flour if needed.
• Cover bowl and let raise in warm place 1 hour.
• In mean time, beat egg whites with mixer until frothy or foamy. Add 1 cup sugar, slowly until stiff peak forms. Fold in vanilla, cinnamon, and walnuts. You can use Black walnuts if preferred.
• When dough has risen, cut into 2 equal parts. Roll out on floured surface until you get a 12 X 18 (give or take) sheet. Spread nut mixture onto surface and leave 1 inch space all around. Roll like you would a jellyroll or pinwheel. Use water at last open area to seal, fold or tuck under slightly left to right sides. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet length-wise and repeat with second one.
• Preheat oven 375º degrees.
• Once both are placed on cookie sheet, poke with fork in about 5 areas on each to let dough breath. Cover with light towel and let rise about 15-20 minutes.
• Remove towel, place in center rack in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Should be golden brown.
• Brush with melted butter if preferred.
• When completely cooled, cut into 1" slices and pat with butter, serve with coffee (if preferred).

NUT ROLLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup white sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup melted butter, and 3 eggs. Mix and add 1/2 pint sour cream. Mix together yeast with warm milk and 1 teaspoon sugar. Add to mixture. Add flour. Mix and knead. Divide dough into 7 equal parts.
• To Make Filling: Melt 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter. Add 2 cups sugar and stir to dissolve. Add to ground walnuts and mix until coated. Add ground cinnamon and vanilla extract to taste, if desired. Divide filling into 7 equal amounts.
• Roll each dough ball into rectangle. Spread slightly beaten egg white on top of dough. Spread equal amounts of filling on top of each rectangle. Roll in edges and spread edges with egg whites to seal. Then roll length wise. Brush tops with egg whites.
• Bake in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) preheated oven for 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool. These freeze well.

VICTORIA SKONIECZKI'S (GRANDMOM'S) NUT ROLL (MAKOWIEC)

Steps:

• Place walnuts in a food processor. Process until roughly ground.
• Melt 3/4 cup butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar until dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add ground walnuts and maple flavoring; stir to combine.
• Mix 2 cups flour, yeast, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt together in a bowl.
• Combine sour cream, 1 cup butter, and water in a saucepan over low heat. Warm until melted, about 2 minutes; do not boil. Remove from heat; let stand until cool enough to dip a finger in, about 3 minutes.
• Add sour cream mixture to the flour mixture slowly. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as you go. Add eggs and 1 additional cup flour; stir briefly to combine. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes more. Stir in remaining flour 1 cup at a time until a soft dough forms.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead several times and roll into a ball. Let rise for 10 minutes. Grease 2 jelly roll pans.
• Divide dough into 4 pieces; roll each out to a 14x12-inch rectangle. Spread 1/4 of the filling over each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch space around all edges. Roll each up lengthwise, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seams closed. Place, seams down, on the prepared pans. Cover with a damp cloth; let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 35 minutes. Place rolls on a rack to cool completely, 2 to 3 hours.