These Spiced Walnut Pecan Knots are a pretty treat, and the result of a baking mishap. I was recently making my Grand Cinnamon Roll and left the egg out of the dough mixture. Not knowing when it might finally rise, I made a new dough mixture. But I didn’t toss the eggless dough mixture. Instead, I let it have a long rise.
In the meantime, I decided what to do with the dough. Wanting to add some crunch to the sweet, I turned to baklava for inspiration. My mom learned to make baklava, in the Turkish tradition, from a friend. But Turkish baklava doesn’t use any warm spices. As I was looking up Baklava recipes, I stumbled upon Kanelbullar – Swedish Cinnamon Rolls.
Swedish cinnamon roll dough has cardamom in it. I already had dough made without cardamom. So, I added the cardamom to my sugar-spice mix. Kanelbullar is also nut-free. How do they serve as inspiration, you might ask. Well, the knot shape of Swedish cinnamon rolls is novel to me. They look so intricate and pretty. And just like that, I knew what to do with my eggless dough.
Options on Method
If the idea of making the dough and waiting 5-8 hours is unappealing, I have two suggestions. You can either make the dough as described in the method for my Grand Cinnamon Roll, including the egg. Or you can go the store-bought route and get a packet of frozen puff pastry. As much as I enjoyed these happy accidents, even I can admit the lead-time required is not ideal.
How to Roll the Knots
Hold the strip steady on one side and then using your dominant hand roll the strip toward yourself. The twisting should allow the dough to fold in on itself. Tuck the ends under, and your knot is complete.
Spiced Walnut Pecan Knots
INGREDIENTS
For the Dough
- 2¾ cup flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2¼ tsp active dry yeast - or 1 packet
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
For the Filling
- 1 cup chopped nuts: walnuts, pecans, or combination
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup butter - room temperature/softened
METHOD
Making the Dough
- Whisk together the Flour, Sugar, Salt, and Yeast.
- Microwave milk and butter together until butter is melted. The mixture should be 100° - 110°F, or warm to the touch.
- Pour milk-butter mixture into the dry ingredients, and add Egg.
- Combine until the dough is soft and pulling away from sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixture start with the paddle attachment and finish with the dough hook. If, as you are kneading, the dough is more sticky than soft add more flour 1 tbsp at a time. Poke the dough, if it bounces back slowly it's ready.
- Ball up the dough, place it in a lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Rest the dough for 5-8 hours, allowing the dough to rise and double in size.
Spice Filling
- Combine the Nuts, Spices, Brown Sugar, and Butter to a crumble-like consistency.
Assembly and Baking
- Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 16 inches.
- Spread the spice and nut filling evenly over the dough.
- Fold the dough into thirds horizontally, as you would a letter.
- Place the folded dough in front of you as a verticle column.
- Cut about 1-inch strips down the column. Should yield about 16 strips.
- Take one strip of dough and hold one side in place. Using your dominant hand, roll the dough toward yourself. Let the dough twist into itself. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining strips.
- Loosely cover the twists with plastic wrap and rise in a warmish place. An oven with the light on should do the trick. The twists should double in size in about an hour.
- If you did the rise in the oven, remove tray before setting the temperature to 350°F.
- Once the oven is heated, bake until golden brown - about 17 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
