Christmas Rolls

Isn't it fascinating how the dishes change along with the time of the year? Not only because certain vegetables and fruits are in season but also because we associate different periods with different flavours and feelings which we expand to our food. Also our needs change with the time and temperature. I would never think of eating a curry when it's summer and 30°C outside, a nice bowl of fresh fruit salad totally satisfies me then, but in winter no way I would miss a good warming curry! So for October and early November I've been craving pumpkin pie while now that it's getting even colder and Christmas even closer I'm absolutely up for candied orange and lemon peel, ginger bread spices and nutssssss.....welcome wonderful Christmas anticipation~

Makes 12-14 Christmas Rolls...

...YEAST DOUGH
- 250g flour
- 3 sachets instant yeast
- 50g pure vegetable margarine
- 135 ml plant-based milk (I used soy milk)
- 50 g sugar* (I used regular refined sugar)
- 1 vanilla bean (or vanilla flavour)
- 1 pinch of salt

...FILLING
- 40g pure vegetable margarine, at room temperature
- 250g apples (without skin and core)
- 40g candied orange peel
- 40g candied lemon peel
- 60g ground hazelnuts
- 60g pecans
- 1-2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch of ground cardamom
- 1 pinch of ground cloves
- optional: 2 tbsp. rum

...TOPPING
- 150g dark plant-based chocolate

***

Yeast dough: Melt the margarine in a pan or microwave until it is completely liquid and slightly warm. Slice open the vanilla bean, scrape out the pulp and combine it together with the flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl large enough for the dough to rise later. Warm the milk up to a temperature where you can still touch it without burning your fingers. The easiest way to do that is to place it in a small sauce pan over medium heat and check for it every 20 seconds with your pointing finger through stirring. Then add the milk and the melted margarine to the dry ingredients and knead until everything forms a flexible, a little sticky dough. Leaving it in the bowl, cover with a regular kitchen towel and set aside to rise in a warm place with minimal air circulation for 90-120 minutes.

Filling: Meanwhile, prepare the Christmas-y filling. First peel and core, then cut the apples into very small cubes (I weighed them at this point). Roughly chop the pecans and finely chop the candied peels. Mix the apple cubes, the nuts and the candied peels with the spices and maple syrup. You might want to pass on the rum if there are children or people who don't like alcohol but in case you have the possibility to include the rum I highly recommend it, it really gives a wonderful note to the rolls.

After the dough rose to at least double of its original size, knead again and roll out on a floured worktop, it should be around 0.5-1.0 cm thick. Spread the 40g margarine evenly on the dough and apply the spice-nut-apple-mixture on top leaving 1cm free around the edges. Cut the dough into long stripes, 3 cm wide at the upper end and 2 cm wide at the lower end, following roll up the stripes starting with the wider end to - guess what - rolls and place on a lined baking tray. Like that, the centers of the rolls stand out a little which looks nicer. Bake at 180°C for about 10-15 minutes, remove from the baking tray to cool to room temperature afterwards.

Topping: Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and drizzle over the cooled Christmas rolls. You might not need to use all of it, the 150g are just a rough orientation so that you surely have enough.

Bon appetit and enjoy! (:

The nutritional information listed below refers only to the ingredients written above, all by approximation.

Nutritional information for one Christmas Roll out of 12-14 rolls:
Calories: 300.5
Carbohydrates: 28.6g
Protein: 4.9g
Fat: 17.4g
Calcium: 36.1mg
Iron: 1.2mg



*any sugar/sweetener in powdery or crystal-/granulated-like texture. That could be whole cane sugar, coconut sugar or simply regular refined sugar. Choose the alternative you like and which suits you and your needs (and taste!) best (: