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romanian walnut pastry

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!

Course Dessert
Keyword Christmas, Holiday, nut roll, walnuts
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 5 rolls (serves approximately 40 people)

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:

  1. In food processor, grind all nuts until they're the consistency of coarse sand. I do this in multiple batches with the standard blade.

  2. 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.

  3. Taste the nut mixture to see if you think any additional cinnamon or lemon is necessary.

For dough:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.)

  3. Add sour cream and 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice to bowl with egg yolks. Beat with fork until completely combined.

  4. 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:

  1. Beat eggs whites until soft peaks form. Set aside. Grease and flour the baking pan.

  2. 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.

  3. 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!

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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