My family’s nut roll recipe, passed down from at least four generations. It is dense and buttery, packed to the brim with walnuts, and does not use a yeast dough (easy, and never dry!). I’ve tried nut rolls from all over the world, and nothing compares to this one.
History of this Nut Roll
Mrs. Killian was a Romanian immigrant who came to work as a cook in New York, and ended up in Pittsburgh, PA. When she was in her later years (approximately 1970), she worried that her nut roll recipe would not be passed on, so she invited a few close family members over to learn how to make it. My grandma was one of them, and is the only one who continued to make this nut roll. From then on, my grandma made it every Christmas and Easter.
My grandma is now 97 and no longer makes it, but luckily, about 15 years ago she visited California and taught me how. We spent an entire day in the kitchen grinding walnuts (for hours!) with my grandma’s old fashioned nut grinder, and rolling each pastry by hand. (I’m not a skilled baker, so finding a technique took some practice). Since that visit, I picked up the tradition of making this recipe each year and I would always ship a roll back to my grandma. The recipe remains 100% unaltered, though I’ve chosen to grind my walnuts in a food processor, even though my grandma teases it’s not authentic that way.
Step-By-Step
Step 1: Gather Ingredients
Step 2: Prepare walnut mixture and begin to assemble dough.
Grind walnuts using a standard blade in a food processor. They should be the consistency of coarse sand. Then, combine them with the rest of the nut mixture ingredients and set aside.
For the pastry, use a pastry cutter to cut butter until it’s about the size of peas.
Add the sour cream/egg yolk mixture into butter/flour mixture until there’s no loose flour. Once combined, do not continue to work the dough. We want it to be nice and tender.
Finally, split dough into 5 even balls. With the dough mixture ready and the walnut filling ready to go, it’s time to start rolling!
Step 3: Rolling
Generously flour a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover, then set a dough ball in the center of the cloth. I like to roll it out in multiple directions until it reaches about the size pictured below. It should be at around 17″ wide when rolled out, because this guarantees it’ll be the length of the pan. I like to mark my pastry cloth with a sharpie so I know where to roll it.
Spread a thin layer of whipped egg white over the dough, then add 1/6 of walnut mixture spread evenly on top. (Be sure to spread it to the edges!)
Now, we roll! This part can be a bit tricky but it gets easier with time. I like to roll away from myself, moving very slowly in case the dough sticks to the cloth.
Use the pastry cloth to make one roll at a time until there’s about 1 inch of flat dough left. Then, transport the roll to the prepared pan, and finish rolling it so that the extra inch is rolled in and at the bottom of the roll. This will help keep it from coming apart when it bakes.
Then we carefully add the roll to the pan, and repeat four more times!
Once all five rolls are in the pan, coat the top of each roll with the remaining egg white and nuts. It’s time to bake!
Final step: Bake, Cool, and Enjoy!
Once they’re baked, I let them sit for about 15 minutes. I usually pull one roll out of the pan and spread the remaining four rolls apart so that the sides cool down faster.
And now, it’s time to eat!!!
I think Mrs. Killian would be happy to know that thanks to the internet, her recipe and the steps to make it are forever saved and can continue to be shared with the world.
Mrs. Killian’s Nut Roll
My family's nut roll recipe, passed through the generations! Dense, buttery, packed with walnuts, not too sweet, and with a hint of lemon and cinnamon. This recipe is a favorite Christmas tradition!
Ingredients
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tsp baking powder
- 5 cups sugar divided
- 3 lemons
- 1 lb salted butter room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups sour cream room temperature
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 lbs English walnuts
- 5 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
For nut mixture:
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In food processor, grind all nuts until they're the consistency of coarse sand. I do this in multiple batches with the standard blade.
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Add ground nuts to a large bowl along with 3 1/2 cups sugar, 3 tsp cinnamon, rind of 1 1/2-2 lemons, and juice of 1-2 lemons (about 4 tbsp). Mix until thoroughly combined and then set aside.
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Taste the nut mixture to see if you think any additional cinnamon or lemon is necessary.
For dough:
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In a large bowl combine flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, baking powder, and rind of 1 lemon. Add butter and cut like pie dough, until the butter pieces are the size of a pea.
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In two new separate bowls, separate egg yolks from whites. (I like to put the whites in a Pyrex measuring cup. We'll be whipping them later and this provides space to expand.)
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Add sour cream and 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice to bowl with egg yolks. Beat with fork until completely combined.
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Add sour cream mixture to flour mixture. Mix with a fork and then by hand. The mixture should be combined but not overworked. Divide the dough into 5 equal parts.
For rolling:
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Beat eggs whites until soft peaks form. Set aside. Grease and flour the baking pan.
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Generously flour pastry cloth and rolling pin, then tap lightly to pour off excess flour. Place a dough ball in the middle of the pastry cloth, and roll until it's approximately a 17" x 17" square. I mark my pastry cloth so that one of the sides is always 17" because this ensures that the rolls will fill the length of the pan.
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Once dough is rolled out, spread a thin layer of egg white on top of the dough. Top egg white with 1/6 of the walnut mixture. Be sure to spread mixture all the way to the edges of the pastry. We don't want ends without any nut filling!
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Carefully begin rolling away from yourself from the side that will create a 17” long roll. Once it is completely rolled and resting at the edge of the pastry cloth, pickup the entire cloth and roll the nut roll onto the pan.
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Repeat rolling process 4 more times, being sure to flour the pastry cloth and rolling pin between rolls. With approximately 2 rolls left, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Once all five rolls are rolled and on the pan, lightly spread egg white on top of the rolls and sprinkle with the remaining walnut mixture.
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Bake 350 degrees, 50-60 minutes. The rolls should be light brown on top.
Recipe Notes
This is not a recipe for beginners. Successfully using a pastry cloth takes some experience.
Make sure you use fresh walnuts! I find the Costco bag always works perfectly. One year I used walnuts I purchased in the bulk bin at Sprouts, and they were so dry that it ruined the whole batch. Don’t make that mistake.
I estimate it takes about 2 hours from start to oven time. Rolling each roll takes some patience, because if you move too quickly it can become a sticky mess. Be sure to generously flour the pastry cloth, and scrape off any dough that sticks between rolls.
Equipment needed:
Pan size: 17″ long, 11 1/2″ wide, 1″ deep
Pastry cloth and rolling pin cover
Food Processor
Other favorite Christmas recipes include these boozy chocolate hazelnut double trouble cookies, these maple pecan shortbread bars, and these tiramisu mini pies with an Oreo cookie crust (one of my fave desserts ever!).
Hi Lindsey, I am your second cousin. Your dad and I are first cousins. Mable is my aunt and my dad is Calvin and my mother was Valeria. My grandmother was Mrs. Killian. I am Laurie.
My grandmothers nut roll recipe really is the best. I have made it a few times just not on a regular basis. I really enjoyed your site. I do want to try the avocado toast. My grandmother would make an apricot dessert . So good. I don’t think there’s anything out there like it. If I ever come across the recipe, I will pass it on to you .
Hi Laurie! Thank you so much for your comment. We absolutely love your grandma’s nut roll. I’ve even started giving it to my husband’s family around Christmas and they love it as well. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Lindsey,
I was very pleased to see your blog post and that you are carrying on the tradition of your grandmother. My grandmother taught my mother and my aunt to make this traditional nut roll recipe as well and it has been passed on to we 3 daughters and even one daughter-in-law makes it. Yours is the first dough recipe I have found online that uses the sour cream. My grandmother’s recipe, however, was a yeast dough that you let rise. Then we roll out round (like a pie crust size) very thin and top with 3 layers – strawberry jam (homemade if possible), chopped nuts and a light sprinkle of white sugar. Roll up, place in a half circle on a baking sheet and bake. When it is still warm, we put a powdered sugar glaze on top. I remember as a child spinning the handle of the old-fashioned meat grinder we used to grind the nuts. Great times.
I guess its like any recipe in the world, different families make changes and it passes on for generations. I have enjoyed seeing the various recipes on the different sites, but yours is the closest to my mother’s.
Happy baking, my Romanian sister.
Connie, thank you so much for your comment! Your grandmother’s recipe sounds very delicious. My grandma had that same old-fashioned hand grinder and insists that nuts ground with a food processor just don’t have the same consistency. 🙂