hazelnut rye rolls
If you want your house to smell like sweet, home-baked goodness, if you want something swirly and hazelnut-y and cinnamon-y, if you love the taste of rye bread but also cinnamon rolls, if you need an idea of what to eat for breakfast for the rest of your life, folks, make these hazelnut rye rolls.
And even if none of the above applies to you but you are still a fellow carb lover, you should make these hazelnut rye rolls. If nothing else, do it for the glaze: the drippy cream cheese glaze. OK and maybe also the sweet swirly filling. Oh, and the buttery rye roll itself, YES. It’s just the right thing to do.
There have been a lot of sweet roll recipes in my day, and while each has been delicious in its own right, none can compare to the unique deliciousness of these rolls. I love the combination of toasted hazelnuts and rye flour going on here — it gives the flavor profile a little bit of earthiness and savory flavor that is a perfect complement to the sweetness imparted by the butter, cinnamon, sugar and cream cheese glaze. I made these on a whim, actually — meaning, the idea of hazelnuts and rye flour in a roll came to mind and I was all, “Well that sounds interesting and I will take any excuse to get a cinnamon roll in my life/belly,” and so it was. Grabbed the Red Star yeast, grabbed the butter, grabbed the flours and the sugar and salt and egg, and I got to work.
A few hours later, warm, fresh-baked roll on a plate in one hand, a mug of hot coffee in the other, and I was ready for full-on swirly sweet roll bliss. And so it was.
Apart from the potential finickiness of the dough (that is to say, you may find that your rye flour absorbs a lot of the liquid in the recipe and so you’ll need to add maybe an extra tablespoon, 1/4 cup, or even 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour as you knead the dough, no bigs!), this recipe could not be simpler to put together. And that’s a good thing, especially when you’re probably planning to make these for breakfast or brunch and so it’s early and you’ve only gulped down one cup of coffee and the sun isn’t even up yet and wait, why am I awake already again? Oh, right. Delicious sweet rolls in my life/belly, that’s why. Honest, it will all be worth it. And you can have an extra cup of coffee — and an extra roll or two, too — to make up for it. It’s the right thing to do.
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Hazelnut Rye Rolls
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 mins
- Yield: 9 rolls 1x
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) Red Star active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm milk (about 100 degrees F)
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rye flour
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the filling:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped and toasted hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch ground cloves
For the topping/glaze:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, stir sugar and yeast into milk to dissolve. Let stand 10 minutes until foamy.
- Add flours, butter, egg and salt; stir until a dough forms. Use dough hook attachment to knead dough on medium speed 5 minutes, adding more all-purpose flour as needed until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and is smooth, elastic and only slightly sticky; OR, knead dough by hand on a lightly floured surface 10 to 15 minutes, adding more all-purpose flour as needed until dough is smooth, elastic and only slightly sticky.
- Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours until doubled.
- Punch down risen dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 15-by-9-inch rectangle.
- Brush dough with 1 tablespoon melted butter. In a small bowl, combine toasted hazelnuts, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Sprinkle mixture over surface of dough, leaving a 1-inch border along edges.
- From the long end, tightly roll up dough into a log. Use a sharp knife to cut dough into 9 equal-sized rolls.
- Grease bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with butter or cooking spray. Place rolls, cut-side up, in prepared pan. Cover pan lightly with a towel or plastic wrap and let rolls rise 1 hour until nearly doubled.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover pan and bake rolls 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle 1 tablespoon melted butter over rolls.
- To make the glaze, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese and milk into a smooth, drippy glaze. Spoon or spread glaze over warm rolls.
Keywords: Sweet Roll
Disclosure: I received compensation from Red Star Yeast for recipe development purposes. All opinions are my own.
Oh I’m screaming YES to everything you said in that first paragraph. I want all those things. Forever and ever for the rest of my life. Deal?
That filling is so dreamy and nutty! I love when you use whole meal flours in your baking; it inspires me to use them more in baking sweet desserts. Stephanie your rolls must have been so irritable.
Belinda — Thanks, dear! I am experimenting more with whole meal flours and I love it.
Do it for the glaze? All righty then. Count me in! 😀
(And then I saw the filling. I’m doing it for the filling too!!)
Ohhh how I wish I was eating one of these with my coffee right now!
This looks amazing and I love the use of the nutty rye!! Yum!
These are to0 good to be true and totally gorgeous!! Also, a completely heavenly breakfast!
These are pretty much healthy, right? I’m thinking yes!
Good lawd!! These can’t be real!!! Amazing combo!!
Oh wow.. These look delicious.. That brown sugar nutty filling and glaze have me drooling.
Rye bread is by far my favorite of the carbs, and you’re making my dreams come true with this one. I love this idea so so much!
How’s about you move in with me and bake all the sweet rolls so that my house always smells like cinnamon-y delish?! Your fam can come too, but of course! Love these rolls, my dear! I can smell the yeasty baked goodness from states and states away!
I’m with Julia! I can almost taste how delicious these are by looking at the photos! Love this recipe.
I absolutely want my house to smell like these rolls!! So yummy!
Oh I wish I had one right now! They look so perfectly fluffy and delicious!
These look SO GOOD. I love the sound of the rye and hazelnut mixing together under a layer of dreamy cream cheese glaze, whoa!
These look so fluffy and chock-full of delicious hazelnuts! That frosting on top would be my first lick! Hehe
I love rye bread, and I love all the flavors you used, these are amazing and you are right I can totally, and I mean it, TOTALLY eat these for breakfast for the rest of my life!
These rolls look like my happy place. Luckily enough…I have hazelnuts in the cabinet right now, and these are going straight on the to-do list. They look incredible! Stunning photography, as usual 🙂 pinned!
Kerry — Haha, I think so if you think so. 😉
Wow, these sound amaaaaaaazing. I picture you having a quiet moment by yourself every afternoon/late morning with a cup of coffee and a carby treat and it sounds lovely. Can I weasel my way into my fantasy life for you?
so reallly….there’s every reason in the world for me to make and devour these amazing rolls!!
What a unique and tasty roll, girlfriend! I love the drizzle on top 🙂
So tasty! I love that you added some rye flour! Pinning
I love trying new sweet roll recipes and this one looks amazing! Love the combinations of rye and hazelnut. I wouldn’t have thought to use rye flour in a sweet roll, but that’s such a great idea! Pinned!
Sara — You are welcome any time. 🙂
These rolls are so, so gorgeous! You had me at hazelnuts ;).
These hazelnut rye rolls seriously look so delicious.. what I wouldn’t do for one to devour now!
These look prefect! I fell in love with rye flour after I got Good to the Grain for Christmas… Such a lovely sweet nutty flavor! It’s my new favorite way to change up recipes. And hazelnuts, of course, are always a good idea.
Please come over to my house and bring these. K, thanks!
Love that you used rye in a sweet roll! Can’t wait to try this!
This combo is pure GENIUS. Need it in my life/belly STAT!
Such gorgeous rolls!!
Holy moly I want these!!!!
Wow! These look so perfect and delicious 🙂 Now I’m determined to veganize them. I just love rye <3
Making these for Easter breakfast tomorrow – can’t wait! Quick question – do you recommend whole milk? Or would skim or almond milk suffice?
Noelle — Hooray! I wouldn’t recommend almond milk because it may alter the taste, but any milk (whole, 2%, 1% or skim) would work. I used 2% for my recipe. Enjoy and happy Easter!
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for the quick response – went with 2%…and currently licking my fingers from my second roll – delicious! I was slightly nervous since our yeast didn’t foam, so basically our dough didn’t rise at all…but it was still really great. We don’t regularly make our own bread, so wasn’t sure how they’d turn out – have you had this happen? Thinking perhaps if it had, they would have been slightly fluffier? We tried two batches of the yeast – first with the milk at 100 as you suggested and then again at 104 after reading a warmer temp might help. Still no foaming. Any tips?
Noelle — So glad you liked them! If the yeast doesn’t foam, it’s because the yeast is probably old or “dead.” Did your dough rise at all? If not, that’s probably why. If it did, then… well, that’s a mystery. 🙂 Either way, I’m glad the rolls turned out tasty!
It didn’t rise, no. I read that that may be the case when troubleshooting online (that the yeast might be old or “dead”) – however, I purchased the Red Star Active Yeast packets (expiration date of Oct 2017) yesterday specifically for this recipe…and tried it twice with two separate packets. Does that happen – newly purchased yeast might just be “bad?” Was wondering if it was HOW we mixed it – we added the yeast and 1/3 c sugar to a bowl, then immediately poured in the warm milk…stirring it for a bit until the yeast/sugar clumps dissolved. Again – still delicious, so I’m not complaining ONE BIT about the rolls (I’m sure they’d be even tastier if the dough had risen!), I’m just leveraging your baking expertise while I have you! We’re new to making bread – and you’re right – it may remain a mystery!
Noelle — So strange! If you followed the recipe (which it sounds like you did) it should have worked. Sometimes, though, I have breads that just don’t rise right but still end up tasting delicious. So… win win? 😉
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Hi,
looks delicious! But I’m wondering what type of rye flour you used for this recipe? Light, medium, dark, or whole?
Thank you!
I used Bob’s Red Mill light rye flour for this recipe!
Recipe is completely srong
Too much flour for the amount of liquid!
Total failure!
Red star should test the recipe before publising them,
F morin, So sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work for you!