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Persian Love Cinnamon Rolls

Persian love cake flavors baked into a cinnamon roll!
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Rest Time 3 hours
Servings 12 large rolls

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

Instructions

  • 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. Add the cooled roux on top. 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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