Kolache - Slovak Nut Roll
Updated: Dec 19, 2022
Kolache, or nut rolls, have been a Christmas and Easter favorite in my family for at least 5 generations. My great-grandmother brought the basic recipe with her from the former Czechoslovakia, now the Slovak Republic, in the late 1800's. Nut roll - Wikipedia
Over the years the recipes have been tweaked by each family as they evolve the flavors and process based on their likes. This is the way I carry on this annual tradition of homemade nut roll.
Nut Rolls
10 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 pounds butter 5 eggs 4 1/2 tsp. powdered sugar 1 cup milk + more as needed 2 rapid rise yeast packets 3 tsp. vanilla 9 tsp. baking powder
Mix butter and flour as for pie. Add eggs, powdered sugar, yeast, pinch salt, vanilla, and baking powder. Mix in the milk, knead it into a large ball. Let stand in refrigerator for a few hours or leave out at room temp as you prepare the nut paste. Makes about 14 rolls.
Nut Roll Filling
5 pounds of walnuts 1 cup sugar + more to taste 2 egg whites beaten 1 cup milk + more to make filling spreadable 2 tsp. vanilla
Grind nuts fine in food processor or grinder - nuts should be fine. I use the grinder attachment on my Kitchen-Aid mixer. Mix ingredients in bowl. The above are approximate amounts; you may need to add more milk to a make it spreadable and more sugar to sweeten.
Create a mixture of powdered sugar and granular sugar; use this to roll the dough on Instead of flour. It makes It sweet and a nice crusty outside finish.
Take a tennis ball size of dough and roll it to 1/8 inch thick. Spread with nut filling all over the dough (not too much). Roll up, like a jelly roll and tuck ends under. On a baking sheet create foil boats - 3 per sheet. Once the roll is formed, set nut rolls inside boats and bake.
Place inside the foil boat and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until light brown.
Once cool, wrap each roll in the foil and store in the freezer until to you are ready to slice and serve.
Other recipes I found online:
Grandma Rimarchik’s Slovak Nut Roll Recipe | Yankee Magazine (newengland.com)
Kolache: A Slovakian Walnut Roll - Bakes and Blunders
Orechovnik - Slovak Nut Roll - A sweet bread with nut filling (cakieshq.com)