With today being Memorial Day, I have been thinking all day about my sweet Grandma Dorothy who passed away last April. She was the most remarkable lady. I was so very lucky to have her for my grandma. She was the kindest, most caring, most loving, selfless person I know. She was everybody’s cheerleader and made you feel like you were the most important person in her life. When I was in college, I lived with her and my grandpa for a couple semesters. I would wake up every morning and find the table set for my breakfast and then would come home from class with lunch always waiting. I cherish those memories. I miss and think of her every single day.
Not only was she the best grandma ever, she was also a fantastic cook and made the very best sweet rolls. Our family’s favorite ones were her almond sweet rolls. These seriously are to die for. The almond filling is amazing. I could eat one of these every day and never get tired of them. Give me a cold glass of milk and an almond sweet roll and I am one happy lady! So in honor of my sweet grandma, I’m sharing her recipe today for almond sweet rolls. These take some time to make, but they are definitely worth it.
If you are like my sister-in-law Becky who loves almond flavoring and uses it as her “secret ingredient” in just about anything, then you will be in love with these sweet rolls. On the other hand, I totally get that there are those who do not love or even like the taste of almond extract. My best friend Heather is one of them. I’ll never forget when we were probably 12 or 13, she was over at my house and my mom had made almond sweet rolls that day. I took one and gave Heather one too, not knowing that she didn’t like almond. I just remember finding her sweet roll thrown down the stairs of our outside basement entrance. I guess she didn’t have the heart to tell me she didn’t like almond. To this day she still doesn’t and we still laugh about that story. So if you are like Heather, and don’t like almond, then feel free to do a cinnamon or orange filling, or anything you’d like.
ENJOY!
- DOUGH:
- 1 cup butter , softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups warm milk
- 2 pkg. yeast
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 eggs , beaten
- 1 tsp. salt
- 6-7 cups flour
- FILLING:
- 1/2 cup butter , melted
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup oatmeal
- 4 tsp. almond extract
- FROSTING:
- 1 stick butter
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 5-6 Tbsp. half-n- half or whipping cream
-
DOUGH:
-
Place butter and 3/4 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl. Pour heated milk over butter and sugar. Let stand for a few minutes.
-
Mix the warm water, yeast and 1 Tbsp. sugar in small bowl, stir and let stand for 5 minutes.
-
Add salt, eggs and yeast to the milk mixture. Add flour and mix until dough begins to pull aways from the sides of the bowl. You want the dough to be soft, but not real sticky. Cover and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour.
-
Punch dough down and let rise for another 45 minutes.
-
Divide the dough into two portions. Roll out each portion into a rectangle ( I roll mine about 1/4 an inch thick), spread half of the almond filling evenly over the top .
-
Roll up jelly roll style and pinch to seal the edges. Cut about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 inches wide. (I use a piece of dental floss or thread to cut mine, it works so nicely). I usually get about 16-20 rolls from each portion of dough.
-
Place on greased cookie sheet or 9x13 pan. Let rise for about 30 minutes.
-
Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
-
Remove from oven and let cool for 5-1o minutes. Frost roll while they are still slightly warm.
-
Go pour yourself a glass of cold milk and try not to eat the whole pan!!
-
ALMOND FILLING:
-
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until butter is melted and it's well combined.
-
FROSTING:
-
Beat butter until smooth, add remaining ingredients, beating until smooth. You can add more cream if you want a thinner frosting.
If you love almond, these will be the best sweet rolls you ever eat…..guaranteed!
These are so yummy and easy. Way to go Jodi!