Cinnamon rolls might be my absolute favorite food (contending with really good pizza or focaccia)… can you tell I LOVE bread?! And when it comes to dessert, I’ve always loved anything with almond. Almond + dark chocolate = amazing. Marzipan (almond paste) = heavenly. Almond paired with cherries or any berries = divine! Because of this obsession, I decided I wanted to make a version of my mom’s famous (to us, anyway) cinnamon roll recipe that features almond. This recipe I found uses sliced almonds ground (with some sugar, butter, orange zest, cinnamon, vanilla, etc.) into a paste to make the filling. And an orange glaze gets drizzled on top. And it was insanely good! I did feel like the orange flavor was a bit stronger than the almond, so next time around I plan to use a classic glaze, omitting the orange juice and replacing the vanilla with almond extract. I’ve provided both glaze options in the recipe below!

Like I mentioned, I used my mom’s dough recipe. In addition to classic cinnamon rolls (and orange rolls & lemon rolls which I’ve already shared), it makes killer dinner rolls. You can follow the links to those recipes if you want more details on the dough process.

Almond Sweet Rolls

INGREDIENTS

for the dough:
3-4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg, whisked
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. warm milk

for the filling:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter
zest of one orange
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (you could use a combo of almond and vanilla extracts if you want extra almond flavor- I would try 1/2 tsp. vanilla + 1/4 tsp. almond)

for the orange glaze:
juice of one orange
1 1/2- 2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt

OR for the almond glaze:
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 Tbsp. milk (+ more to thin the glaze if necessary)
pinch salt

for topping:
handful sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Whisk to combine. Pour in wet ingredients (butter, eggs, and milk). Stir until it is a thick paste. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it comes together into a ball.

2. Lightly flour a flat surface, and knead the dough, adding more flour to prevent sticking, 8-10 minutes, until smooth. Spray the inside of a bowl with cooking spray, place the dough inside, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. While the dough is rising, prepare the almond cream. In a food processor combine the almonds, sugar, egg, butter, cinnamon, orange zest, and vanilla, and pulse until well combined and it has a smooth, pasty, buttery texture. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

4. Roll out the dough on a clean, well-floured surface into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the almond cream evenly over the surface of the dough. Roll up the dough, keeping it pretty tight, and cut into rolls. Almond cream might seep out the sides and makes things a bit messy – that’s okay. Let rise in a loosely covered, well-greased 9 x 13 pan for another hour, or until doubled in size. You could also let them rise overnight in the refrigerator at this step and then bake them in the morning.

5. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top of the rolls & bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until slightly golden brown and cooked through.

6. To make the glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, fresh orange juice, and pinch of salt (or butter, powdered sugar, almond extract, milk and salt)-adjusting the powdered sugar and milk as necessary to achieve a pourable glaze- and then drizzle all over the rolls.

Makes a 9×13 pan, about 12 rolls.

Adapted from The Food Wright