Country Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

There is something strangely therapeutic about eagerly searching for something, working toward finding it, picking it, gazing lovingly at it… and then smashing it with a hammer. Oh yeah, and then eating it. I guess.

My parents house is covered with tons of fruit and nut trees, and hubby and I spent an evening with the girls picking up the last of the pecans on my parents two pecan trees. We are kind of late on pecan season, and most of the nuts have already dropped (and removed by my parents lawn care people), so we were literally searching for any and every straggling nut within reach to glean.

We were literally rummaging around my parents property, looking for late bloomers and stragglers to fill my pantry, and it was the kind of work that yields more fun and memories than food. The pecan haul was, shall we say, very slim.. so my lofty plans of pecan pies and ice cream and and and…. Turned into crumble topping on baked goods. But hey! It’s tasty! And I’ll be more diligent next year in ransacking my parents edible landscaping.

Also, I’ve come away from this nut searching venture with some pretty zen insight… Need a good stress reliever? WHACK THINGS WITH A HAMMER. Then eat them!

WAY too fun smashing them.. picking the nutty flesh out though? Ehh, not so much! But worth it for the TASTY!

All dressed up and ready to go into the oven!

All done! These things are.. um… HUGE.

How to Make

1 ½ cups milk

1 ½ cups water

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

4 packages yeast

9 cup flour, divided (I used Spelt Flour from Berlin Bakery)

4 eggs, beaten

Butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, to taste

Crushed pecans, to taste

Heat the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to 120-130 degrees. Mix undissolved yeast with 3 cups of flour. Add the liquid mixture to the flour-yeast mixture. Beat for two minutes at medium speed.

Add eggs and one cup of flour. Beat for two minutes on high speed.

Stir in the remaining flour. Turn out onto a floured board. Let rest for ten minutes.

Knead 10-15 times, until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl in a warm place and let rise until doubled, about one hour.

While waiting for the dough to rise, melt butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in place in 3 9×13 inch pans.

Punch the dough down and form into rolls. Place in the prepared pans. Top the rolls with additional melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and crushed pecans. Let rise.

Bake in a 350 degree over for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

What’s YOUR favorite way to eat pecans?