Nut Roll Recipe
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An Eastern European Christmas and Easter tradition, this nut roll recipe can be made with ground walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, raisins and even a poppy seed filling.
Nut Roll Recipe
Risen with instant yeast and made exquisite by the addition of sour cream to the nut roll dough, this recipe is super easy to make and a holiday favorite. It literally tastes like Christmas!
Packed with ground or roughly chopped walnuts, vanilla extract and a burst of citrus from orange zest, your house will be filled with a divine comforting smell that brings all the kids and grown ups into the kitchen.
This is an old world Kolachi recipe also going by the name Italian roll, Romanian Colaci cu Nuca, Hungarian Kolachi, Polish and Slovak roll.
About the Nuts
Please Don’t be stingy with the nuts, go as nutty as you can, tis’ the season after all! I grew up with a walnut filling from our own old walnut tree my grandpa planted before i was even born, so I really get nostalgic about those. You can use pecans instead or mix up your favorite kind if you prefer. A recipe is nothing but a guide to inspire you.
A simple sprinkling of powdered sugar is all this classic dessert needs for a festive presentation. However, feel free to whip up a little decadent icing to drizzle over the top if you like.
Recipe Tips
Storage – traditionally kept at room temperature wrapped in a tea towel or in a bread box or basket. You could also freeze individual slices and pop in the toaster oven for breakfast.
Vegan – it can be easily done by using vegan butter sticks and sour cream instead, a flax egg and aquafaba egg wash. Easy!
Serving suggestions – sliced in 3/4 inch slices as a breakfast pastry or as a dessert on the Christmas cookie platter alongside:
- Ricciarelli
- Italian Wedding Cookies
- Christmas Ricotta Cookies
- Baklava
- Cranberry Bread
- Rosemary shortbread cookies
- Ricotta Banana Nut Bread
- and this cannoli cream.
Nut Roll Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 stick butter (you can use plant based)
- 3/4 cup warm milk (you can use full fat cashew or coconut)
- 3/4 cup sour cream (you can use dairy-free)
- 1 egg large
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 packet instant yeast
Nut Roll Filling
- 3.5 cup nuts (i used walnuts roughly chopped)
- zest from 1 orange
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 egg beaten
Egg Wash
- 1 tsp water
- 1 egg
Instructions
- To the bowl of your kitchen aid mixer add the flour, butter, milk, sour cream, 1 egg, sea salt, yeast and 3 tbsp sugar. Mix to combine well and knead a few minutes until a smooth dough forms. The dough shouldn’t stick to the bowl.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour.
- Meanwhile Make the Nut FillingMelt the butter in a large skillet and add sugars. Stir to combine well and remove from heat. Mix in the chopped nuts, vanilla extract, orange zest and allow to cool completely. Beat 1 egg and mix it with the cooled off nut roll filling. Set aside.
- After the dough has risen for 1 hour dump it on a lightly floured surface and cut it in 2 equal pieces.
- Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough and using a rolling pin roll the dough into a thin rectangle that you are comfortable rolling and working with.Spread half of the filling on top of the dough within 1/2 inch from the edges.
- Beat the egg with the water to make the egg wash and brush the edges of the dough. Gently start rolling the dough into a log starting with the long side. Pinch the ends and tuck underneath the roll.
- Layer a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the nut roll on top.
- Repeat the process with the remaining dough and filling and place the second roll on the baking sheet about 5 inches away from each other.
- Cover loosely with a tea towel and allow to rise for another 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile preheat tour oven to 350 “F
- Brush the logs with the egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 34 to 45 minutes until golden brown on top.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool off completely before slicing them. Garnish with powder sugar and serve.
Notes
- The Nuts - please Don't be stingy with the walnuts, go as nutty as you can, tis' the season after all! You can even mix up your favorite kind if you prefer. A recipe is nothing but a guide to inspire you.
- Storage - traditionally keep at room temperature wrapped in a tea towel or in a bread box. You could also freeze individual slices and pop in the toaster oven for breakfast.
- Vegan - it can be easily done by using vegan butter and sour cream, a flax egg and aquafaba egg wash.
- A classic sprinkling of powdered sugar is all this dessert needs for a festive presentation. However, feel free to whip up a little decadent icing to drizzle over the top if you like.
Nutrition
Just made this! I used 2c Black Walnuts and 1 1/2c English Walnuts. Totally yummy! Only thing that I would do differently is make it into 4 loaves. Definitely a keeper.
Want to thank you for the no-nonsense format of the recipe webpage. I had almost stopped looking at a lot of recipe sites because layout for a recipe is too hard to follow. I will visit yours again
Sorry if you were looking for comments about the recipe itself! Not sure when I’ll try it–missing an ingredient.
Hi Florentina:
This is my second year to make your nut roll recipe at Christmas! I have to eat gluten free and have successfully used your recipe and substituted the flour in the recipe for Caputo GF flour and it is fabulous! I only have one issue and I’m sure it’s something I’m doing and not your recipe. Hoping you can help! My nut rolls crack open and ooze. I really don’t mind too much because they still taste awesome. I’m wondering if I am possibly rolling the dough too thin? Or, not making the rectangle wide enough and rolling it a little more. I’m not a novice baker by any means. If you could share some recommendations, I would so greatly appreciate it. Thanks again for this wonderful recipe and for any help!
Merry Christmas!
Janie
Hi Janie, I’m so glad you are loving the nut roll 🙂 It is possible that the dough was rolled too tight which would lead to some cracking during baking as the dough expands. You could also try using less of the filling next time (I know, it’s the best part) and make sure to not over-bake the rolls as that would lead to a dryer crumb prone to cracking as well. All things considered it’s perfectly fine to have some cracking occur in exchange for that extra filling imho. Due some powdered sugar over the top and pretend it’s not even there ~ Florentina Xo’s
Hi Janie, this is my first time making these myself, but I believe your answer is, your are rolling the dough to thin, the first roll i did it was thin, even had whole in the dough, plus I spreader the nut mixture onto it, I patched the top with the extra dough I trimmed of the sides. And it is rising just fine, the second one, I rolled it 2 inches shorter, and kept it to about 1/4 inch. It rolled much, much better. I hope this helps everyone. Laura
This recipe is fantastic. Wait…that’s an understatement. Lemme explain:
First, it tastes great. The dough is just the right kind of sweet without being too sweet. The filling is yummy. Okay?
But the TEXTURE. Oh. My. Gosh. The dough is so light and squishy and tender. Working with it, compared to other bread or crust doughs, is like the difference between cloud dough and playdoh. It’s just amazing. Super easy to roll out and pleasant to work with.
And then when it cooks! It stayed tender for DAYS. I would cut a slice and think it was finally tough, but then I would bite in and be transported to Pastry Wonderland.
WELL DONE on this recipe!
Follow this recipe exactly. It is the best nut roll we’ve ever had. It’s delicious!
Sure would like to find a REGULAR recipe WITHOUT all the added extras, like, orange zest, lemon zest, sour cream, heavy cream, cat nip, kitty litter etc, etc, Think about it, our grand parents NEVER ADDED any of that crap, because they NEVER had it, and the nut rolls tasted great.Had few different recipes without all the zest stuff, cant find any since i moved,, thanks
Hey Tony, just leave out the lemon zest lol We actually had lemon zest growing up specifically saved for the holidays, citrus was a Christmas specialty and one would use and save every part of it specifically for Christmas baking. No catnip ever 😉 ~ Florentina Xo’s
I made these but had to rely on intuition for the length and width of the rolls. Could you please provide what the pre baled size of each roll is supposed to be? Thank you. Also, I assume the butter is melted and cooled a bit before adding to the milk/yeast mixture.
I was born in Croatia and we made these with poppyseed as well. All though we did not use butter in the filling., but milk and make a paste with that. Just another variation.
My mother was Austrian and I know this walnut bread well. She usually cooked it in a small tall bundt form so it looked fancy…especially with a dusting of powdered sugar. I have not made it in so long. I think it’s time to do it, as the pandemic eases up. It’s best the day it’s made. My mother also made it with a poppyseed filling. Delicious!
I want to make these, but I need to know how best to keep them until I make the gift platters I give away. I should be making them around the 1st of December, 2017. Thanks for your help. They look wonderful, and I have a huge bag of ground pecans just waiting for the perfect recipe. Thanks!
Hi Pam! You can store them for a couple of days on your kitchen counter in a container or loosely wrapped in parchment paper and then aluminum foil. You really don’t want the aluminum touching your food hence the parchment. Ultimately it all depends how long you are looking to store them for.
Perfect photos ! perfect idea ! Thank you and have a healthy and prosperous 2017.!
Thank you so much, same to you and yours!~ Florentina Xo’s