Poppy Seed / Nut Rolls

Yield: 2 rolls

INGREDIENTS: 

• 3  cups flour
• 1 packages active dry yeast (not quick rise)
• 1 1/2 T. sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup  warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• Softened butter
• 2 Tablespoons  room temperature milk

 

 

DOUGH

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt.
3. Stir melted butter into flour.
4. Mix egg and 1 egg yolk, sour cream and yeast together and then add to the flour mixture.
5. Mix  to form a dough.  Let dough stand 10 minutes.

 

FILLINGS : NUT  for one roll

Aunt Millie Kizman’s nut filling   ( also used by Pat and Sarah Eichorn)

• 2 cups ground nuts
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup meltled butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon mace ( Uncle John ‘s addition)
• 1 cup raisins ( soaked in warm water )

Dorothy Hrebenar and Jessica Milleo’s nut filling

 

• 2 cups ground nuts
• 1/2 cup  plus 2 T.sugar ( adjust to taste )
• 2 egg whites
• 2 T. milk
• 2 T. melted butter
• Vanilla
• 1 cup raisins ( soaked in rum )

 

POPPY FILLING: makes one roll

• 1 jar or can of Solo poppy filling
• the zest of one orange

Roll, Fill and Bake

1. Take one half of the dough and place on a lightly floured counter or board.
2. Roll the dough into a 12×14 inch rectangle.
3. Drain raisins, ( they should be plump) and pat dry.
4. Evenly spread the  filling to within 1/2 inch of edges. Scatter  1/2 of the raisins over the filling.
5. Roll up dough  from long end, tucking in the edges ( so filling does not leak) along the way.
6. Brush edges with milk to seal, and pinch with fingers to close seam.
7. Place seam side down on one side of a large parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
8. Use a fork to poke holes down through the dough and filling; being careful  not to break through all the way to the bottom.
9. Brush top and sides of roll with room temperature milk. Repeat steps 1-9 with other half of dough.
10. Cover and allow to raise for 10-15 minutes
11. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven  for 20-25 minutes. You may have to cover with foil the last 5 minutes.
12. When dough sounds hollow and dough is evenly browned remove from the oven to cool.
13. Brush softened butter over the rolls to keep them soft and shiny.  Completely cool before cutting.

NOTE:

Do not double the recipe for the dough. Only use Active dry yeast , not quick rise yeast.  Do not butter the inside of the dough only the outside.  The rolls tend to crack – make sure that you tuck in the sides. If you do not have a grinder you can process the nuts in a food processor: but grinding the nuts gives the nuts more moisture.   My mother always used super fine sugar  for her nuts. You can pulse the sugar in a food processor quickly to get the same result if you can not find super fine sugar. Weather affects the  amount of flour you use when baking.

This is  the dough that my cousin Pat uses and we believe it is Aunt Millie’s recipe.  My mother used  a slightly different recipe for her filled rolls than this one; but this dough  reminds me so much of hers . You can use a nut, poppy, apricot  or almond filling if you wish using the same technique.  Mom and dad and all the aunts used to grind their own nuts and poppy seeds to make these rolls for the  Christmas and Easter holidays. This was dessert, along with assorted homemade cookies  and chocolates on special occasions.

My cousin Pat and I made these Christmas 2013 at her daughter Sarah’s home  during our baking marathon. We experimented with the fillings and decided that she liked Aunt Millie’s nut filling and that I liked a version of my mother Dorothy’s nut filling.  We ground our nuts and used jarred poppy seed filling for those rolls.  We both like the addition of the zest of 1 orange added to the poppy seed filling.