Delicious! Maple-pecan rolls are perfect for a brunch or family gathering. Every Friday afternoon the aroma of these rolls would permeate the house and everyone looked forward to coming together for the evening meal. As our knowledge of nutrition has grown we have improved the comfort foods that we love. The dough for these tender treats is the same as used in the Dinner Roll recipe, 100% whole grain goodness. The maple syrup, dates, flavorings, and toasted pecans come together for the perfect yummy gooey sweet treat. They also taste delicious with walnuts if pecans are not available to you. Don’t be put off by the thought of making sweet rolls as using the dough cycle on your bread machine makes an easy job of the kneading while you blend up the filling. They are well worth the effort and you can do it!
- bread dough ----see No. 1 under Instructions
- 1 cup cut up fresh dates
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teas vanilla
- 1/2 teas liquid butter flavoring
- 1/4 teas almond extract
- 2 cups pecan nuts, halves or pieces
- 3/4-1 cup pure maple syrup --this depends on your sweet tooth
- MAKE the dough in your bread machine using the recipe for Whole-Wheat Dinner Rolls--eliminating the flax seed meal. Be sure the ball of dough indents easily when you press on it, if not add a tablespoon or two of water as it is kneading. This will insure that the rolls will be tender and not dry.
- PREPARE the filling while the dough is mixing, by combining all the filling ingredients in a blender and blending until nice and smooth.
- GENEROUSLY spray a 9 1/2" x 15" glass dish and SPREAD pecans evenly across the bottom.
- DRIZZLE maple syrup evenly over nuts.
- When dough is done with kneading cycle, Turn oven to 350° and Sprinkle flour onto counter top.
- ROLL dough into 1/2" thick rectangle about 11" x 16". SPREAD with filling, leaving 1/2" bare along the 16" sides.
- ROLL the dough up tightly, beginning at wide side. SEAL roll by pinching edge of dough to roll--that is why you didn't put filling on that edge.
- SLICE in 1 1/4" slices. LAY slices cut side down on pecans and syrup, leaving about 1/2" of space between rolls.
- LET rise until double.
- BAKE at 350° for 25-30 minutes until rolls are browning. This is necessary to candy the syrup.
- REMOVEthe baking dish from the oven and carefully turn upside down on cooling rack by laying the rack on top of the dish and turning the rack and dish together. Carefully lift dish from rolls.
I like to double the filling for this recipe, freezing half for another time. My blender does a better job with the larger batch.
If you want to make the sweet rolls ahead and freeze them, when they are completely cool cover the candied part with parchment paper before bagging them or put the rolls into a sealed container.