Nutella Cardamon Rolls

During the colder months when the wind is beating against the house and the trees around us are groaning and aching under the strain, nothing calms my nerves in quite the same way as freshly baked Nutella Cardamon Rolls. Any season, any time of day and night these sweet and airy pastries will work. But, somehow, wintertime and especially the holidays seem to always be the most appropriate time to make baked goodies.

As you bite into these fluffy pastries, you encounter a melting Nutella filling in the midst of layers of airy dough. You have to bake these at least once just for the smell on it’s own. I love the taste of cardamom in these rolls. If you’ve never tried cardamom, it’s a member of the ginger family and it’s a slightly warm, sweet spice with hints of citrus and floral. Cardamon combined with nutty Nutella all wrapped in sweet and fluffy pastry dough makes me want to put that smell in a jar and keep it in my kitchen forever!

You can certainly use all kinds of fillings: fruit, Nutella, jams, etc. Another variation that I use quite often is apple butter. In fact, do you want to know a little secret? This is the same dough recipe I used for Apple Butter Rolls. The only things that are different are the addition of cardamon in the dough and the amount of dough has been cut in half. This way I ended up with 16 rolls, but feel free to use full amounts for approximately 32 rolls.

The dough is an absolute dream to work with. It is very soft and pliable, and only requires a little bit of a rising time to set you off for the most delicious, warm and super cozy Nutella Cardamon Rolls!

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided into 1 cup and 2 cups

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cups warm milk

1/2 tbsp active dry yeast

3 tbsp melted butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cardamon

1 cup Nutella

1 tbsp sugar dissolved in 2 tbsp water

1 tbsp oil for greasing

Preheat oven to 200 F and turn it off.

Add warm milk to the big mixing bowl and sprinkle the top with yeast. Let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes. Then add 1 cup of flour and sugar. Whisk together until blended and let it rise inside the turned off oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the oven and whisk in the eggs, melted butter, vanilla and cardamon. Gradually add the remaining flour and kneed for 10-15 minutes. The dough should be a little sticky to your hands, but should not stick to the walls of the bowl. Adjust with another 1-2 tablespoons of flour if necessary.

Grease the bowl with oil and transfer the dough into the bowl. Let it rise in the warm oven until it is tripled in volume, about 2 hours.

Make a log out of the dough and cut it into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into ovals, place a teaspoon of Nutella on one side, then make 1/2 inch wide cuts on the other side.

Roll it forward covering Nutella inside. You can have fun with shaping these little rolls. I decided to make “S” shapes, but you can make them round or leave them straight.

Preheat the oven to 350F and place the rolls on a baking sheet with slightly greased parchment paper and let them rise while the oven preheats.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and brush immediately with sugar and water syrup.