Pistachio Cardamom Rolls

Persian Love… Rolls? What is Persian Love??

‘Persian Love Cake’ comes from Yasmin Khan’s recipe from her book The Saffron Tales. Of the flavors of her very special cake she says, “of a Persian garden in the late spring, adorned with the floral scent of rose water and citrus, and decorated with bright green pistachios”. 

I’ve been a little obsessed with her cake for years and earlier this year created persian love cookies that incorporate the same flavors. There’s a voice in the back of my head saying this would make a great babka too but, let’s roll with these first!

Ok, truly these are amazing. The filling gets all sticky and caramel-like on the bottom, there’s lemon in the dough and in the glaze and along with the salty pistachios it comes together in this perfect cacophony of flavors. It reminds me a lot of baklava but then there’s nothing crispy here, just a super tender roll! 

Key Recipe Ingredients 

Flour: I use bread flour but you can also use all purpose. 

Milk powder: Also known as non-fat dry milk powder. You can also use buttermilk powder.

Oil: Any kind of flavorless oil will work here. 

Lemon: Rub your lemons while washing to remove any wax. Zest straight into the dough. Reserve the lemon because you’ll use the juice for the glaze. 

Pistachio: Pistachios should be toasted (so if you bought them raw, bake them on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350 F). 

Rose water: Found in the ‘middle eastern’ section of the grocery store, or sometimes near the extracts and baking aisle. You can also use orange blossom water. 

Making persian love cinnamon rolls ahead of time 

Either the first or second rise can be done in the fridge; but you’ll need to give them room temperature rising time afterwards. The dough should be doubled in size after the first rise and should be puffy after the second. 

Before the rolls go into the oven you can be sure the second rise is complete by pressing the side of a roll with your finger; if it springs back quickly the dough needs more time. If it springs back very slowly and leaves an indentation, it’s ready. 

Special notes about this recipe 

Making the Roux: You’ll do this in a pot over the stove. It’s called a tangzhong and is a chinese technique used in japanese milk bread. 

Kneading the dough: This won’t knead for too long but you’ll want a stand mixer & a dough hook, it’ll come together in about 5-7 minutes but in a shaggy, sticky mess. Don’t add any more flour!  

Making the Filling: I like browning the butter for the filling but you can also just melt it. It’ll be looser (easier to spread). If you pour the sugar into the butter while it’s hot and mix it gets it melts it partially, giving it that caramel like taste. 

Glazing & Topping: The glaze can be made thicker with more powdered sugar, looser with more lemon juice. Adjust to your liking. 

Persian Love Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Persian Love Cinnamon Rolls

Persian love cake flavors baked into a cinnamon roll!

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Rest Time: 3 hours hrs

Yields: 12 large rolls

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

Dough

• 40g or ⅓ cup bread flour
• 240g or 1 cup g water
• 7g or 1 packet instant yeast
• 60g or ¼ cup water
• 3 tablespoons milk powder
• 60g ¼ cup oil canola or any flavorless oil
• Zest of 2-3 lemons
• 100g or ½ cup brown sugar
• 500g or 4 cups bread flour
• 2 large eggs
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

• 113g or ½ cup butter to brown
• 210g or 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100g or 1 cup shelled pistachios ground

Topping

• 160g or 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Ground pistachios and rose petals

Method

• In a small pot, whisk together the flour and water for the roux. Cook over medium heat until thickened (it will be gloopy). Let cool just slightly.
• Mix together the yeast and warm water, sprinkle a pinch of sugar on top and set aside for a couple minutes to foam.
• Spoon the flour over the yeast mixture. Add the eggs, sugar, oil, lemon zest, powder and salt & vanilla. Knead on medium speed until the dough mostly comes together, about 5 minutes, it will be a shapeless sticky ball. Set in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 2 hours at room temperature or until it has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling:

• Brown the butter by cooking it in a saucepan until you can see brown bits at the bottom. Pour into a heatproof bowl. Add the sugar, cardamom and cinnamon and stir.
• Grease the bottom of a 13x9” cake pan.
• Once the dough is ready, punch it down and place on a floured surface. Roll it out until it’s about 20x13”. Spread the sugar filling over it and then sprinkle on the ground pistachios into an even layer.
• Roll it up into a log and use unwaxed dental floss to slice rounds that are 1” tall. Arrange in the prepared pan leaving about 1.5 inches between each roll.
• Cover with a tea towel and let rise for about 1 hour, until the dough leaves a small indentation and springs back slowly when pressed. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Bake for about 40 minutes, until dark golden all over.
• To make the glaze: whisk all the ingredients together then pour over the rolls. Sprinkle with additional ground pistachios, dried rose petals and fresh lemon zest.

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