I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this recipe!! If you want a super moist, buttery, nutty pastry this is soooo perfect for you! I took one of my favorite recipes and recreated it to make this delicious masterpiece! Despite how this Walnut Roll Pastry looks, this delightful dessert is filled with walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and a touch of cloves with my spectacular soft dough that makes this extra special! If you can picture a cinnabon without the frosting and filled with a nutty, buttery-rich filling- yeah that is it, then you have to try this recipe out now!
IT’S PHENOMENAL!
Yum
Here is a little History behind this beautiful pastry called “Gata/Gatah“
This traditional Armenian cookie called Gata also known as Gatah, Kata, katah, or Nazook is one of my favorites growing up! Although they are usually served with coffee or tea, they also make the perfect dessert! There are many different types of nut roll desserts made like this recipe all around Central European Countries such as Slovik, Potica, and Bejgli dessert. This recipe is also known to be served at weddings, holidays such as Easter and Christmas as well as other celebrations.
So let me explain a little story behind this recipe… Earlier this month, my husband purchased a similar gata-like cookie called Walnut Roll from the local market. I’ll be honest, although I’m not a fan of purchasing pastry from the market, these were very good! Basically, I wanted to replicate the cookie to the best of my abilities by creating this recipe and putting in my own twist! It tasted similar to the Gata that I used to eat growing up, but I never tried making it myself until today! I figured it’s time to try it out!
Now, let me explain… There are two different types of Gata.
One Gata-Roll is made with a flaky thin dough filled with light sugar, flour, and butter filling rolled into layers and cut into small spiral individual rolls. The other type of Gata an Armenian Coffee Cake is a round-shaped cylinder cake-like pastry that has one layer of a richer and creamier center filled with butter, sugar, flour, vanilla and sometimes filled with nuts.
So, I ended up with my version of the Walnut roll with an old recipe I was handed down from an old friend of my mother’s and re-created and perfected this walnut roll and made it my own!
I have to say it’s definitely “Pure Deliciousness“
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IN THIS POST: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT Healthy Mocha Coffee Yogurt
- THE SECRET TO MAKING A SOFT MOIST WALNUT ROLL
- 🍴INGREDIENTS LIST
- STEPS TO MAKE THIS WALNUT ROLL PASTRY
- PREFER TO WATCH STEP-BY-STEP RECIPE VIDEO INSTEAD OF READING?
- JUMP TO RECIPE CARD
- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: WALNUT ROLL PASTRY
THE SECRET 🤫TO MAKING A SOFT MOIST WALNUT ROLL
What makes this recipe super moist and buttery is the amount of oil that goes in it! Also, the best advice is to place your dough in a warm setting or a room temperature as fermentation starts to process. Allow your dough to rise in a well-sealed bowl with a towel on top.
Some like to place their dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes of fermentation, to make it easier for them to roll out the dough when the dough stiffens. Although some like to place the dough to chill in the fridge, I don’t like that process, I feel you need to allow the yeast to do its work. I leave the dough to rise at room temperature for 1 hour before rolling it out. And of course, to get that beautiful brown shiny crust it’s best to place egg yolk with a mixture of milk for that beautiful coating on top.
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🍴INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE THESE WALNUT ROLL PASTRY
Here is a preview of the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe! You can find these at your local grocery store or you can shop online. (Detailed Ingredients in Recipe Card down below.) down below.)
- Yeast — fast active
- Water
- Sugar — granulated sugar
- Crisco Shortening — make sure it’s Crisco brand
- Olive oil — extra virgin olive oil
- Milk — whole milk
- Eggs— large eggs
- All Purpose Flour
- Salt
- Butter — unsalted butter
- Cloves — ground cloves
- Walnuts — ground walnuts
- Cinnamon — ground cinnamon
- Egg Yolks — large egg yolk
STEPS TO MAKE THIS WALNUT ROLL PASTRY
Step 1 – YEAST FERMENTATION
Firstly, place yeast into warm water (110-115°) and cover the bowl.
If you like, keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card for a list of full ingredients and instructions. You can also click on the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page! 😀
Step 2 – MELTING OIL & SUGAR
Secondly, start to melt your Crisco oil in a saucepan. Add sugar and mix until dissolved.
💡Quick Tip: You can adjust this recipe and change the nuts with many other options like date paste, berries, any type of fruit jam, or chocolate.
Step 3 – PREPPING DOUGH
Thirdly, add your eggs and milk and slightly beat them until well combined. Gradually add one cup at a time of the sifted flour into the mixture and mix well until it’s formed into a sticky dough. Finally, the dough should be sticky, and make sure not to over-flour the dough. You should be able to form the dough into a ball.
If you like, keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card for a list of full ingredients and instructions. You can also click on the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page! 😀
Step 4 – PROOFING DOUGH INSTRUCTIONS
Place a towel and plastic wrap over your dough and allow proofing to start. After that, this should take up to 1 hour at room temperature. While you wait for your dough to rise you can start on your filling.
Crush your cloves with a Mortar and Pestle Spice Herb Grinder. If you don’t have one do not worry, place them into a small sealed bag with a towel over and push down with your rolling pin to crush them as best as you can.
Step 5 – WALNUT FILLING MIXTURE
Finally, it’s time to grind your walnuts. Place the walnuts in a food processor and pulse every few minutes until they are evenly ground. Even though my recipe came out amazing, I feel I ground it a bit too much. Also, I recommend having 75% large ground and 25% finely ground. This will give it an extra crunch!
Place sugar and cloves into melted butter and mix. Place crushed walnuts, walnut pieces, and cinnamon into your butter mixture and gradually add flour until it forms a sticky crumble.
Step 6 – FILLING & ROLLING DOUGH
Your dough should be doubled in size by now. Remove dough from bowl onto a floured surface and knead for one minute. Divide dough into 4 potions with a pastry cutter. You will work with one dough at a time.
Place 1 piece of dough and cover the remaining dough with a towel to prevent it from drying out. Make sure to flour your surface as you work. Roll out dough about 12″ inches wide by 10″ inches thick and roll as thin as you can. Make sure you flour your countertop and rolling pin well, so your dough won’t stick to the surface while working. Sprinkle roughly 1 cup of walnut crumble over the dough evenly and don’t cover 1/2″ around the rim of the dough. Finally, gently roll the dough towards the center until you reach the other side.
If you like, keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card for a list of full ingredients and instructions. You can also click on the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page! 😀
Step 7 – CUTTING ROLLS
Using a rolling pin or the palm of your hands, flatten your roll gently to get a flat surface from the top of the roll. However, if you have a crinkle-cutting tool , you can also cut your walnut rolls into crinkly patterns. If you don’t have a crinkle cutter, you can use a pastry cutter as well.
Cut your pastry about 1″ apart, you should have about 10 pieces.
Step 8 – LINE UP FORM & EGG WASH
Lastly, when placing your rolls on a baking sheet, prepare your baking sheet with a silicone baking mat and lightly spray some cooking spray over it (optional). Lastly, line up your rolls close to each other and brush the egg yolk and milk with a silicone brush. Place into the oven at 350° and bake for 15-20 minutes until browned.
[ Note: Depending on your oven, baking time varies sometimes up to 30 minutes. ]
Fresh flaky, buttery walnut rolls are all done and ready to Enjoy!
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PREFER TO WATCH STEP-BY-STEP RECIPE VIDEO INSTEAD OF READING?
Have you tried making our recipe yet? If so, we would LOVE to hear how it turned out! You can rate and comment down below and on Instagram! 👇 Thank you in advance!
RECIPE CARD
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Print
Walnut Roll Pastry
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: Makes 60 Pieces 1x
Description
Walnut Roll Pastry
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this recipe!! If you want a super moist, buttery, nutty pastry this is soooo perfect for you! I took one of my favorite recipes and recreated it to make this delicious masterpiece! Despite how this Walnut Roll Pastry looks, this delightful dessert is filled with walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and a touch of cloves with my spectacular soft dough that makes this extra special! If you can picture a Cinnabon without the frosting and filled with a nutty, buttery-rich filling- yeah that is it, then you have to try this recipe out now!
Ingredients
Yeast
- 3 tablespoons (1.5oz) dry active yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water 105°-115°
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Dough
- 2 cups Crisco shortening
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup to knead + 1/4 cup to sprinkle as you roll out dough
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Walnut Filling
- 2 cups melted butter
- 3 cups sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 lb walnuts + 1/2 lb halved/pieces walnuts
- 1/2 cup cinnamon
Glaze
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
- In a small bowl, heat water to 120° F. Dissolve yeast and sugar. Set it aside for about 5-10 minutes to start fermentation. In a saucepan, melt Crisco oil and olive oil over low heat and stir in the sugar. Remove from the fire and have this sit for 15 minutes to cool off.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs then add milk. Once your oil and sugar have cooled off, pour it in and mix with the egg and milk mixture in a large bowl. Gradually add 5 cups of sifted flour one cup at a time and mix between each cup. Add your 6th cup of sifted flour and salt and mix.
- Now, add the yeast mixture and mix it into dough. Add the remaining 1-1/2 cups of sifted flour to your dough and knead. Form the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise in a warm/room temperature setting for 1 hour. While the dough is proofing, it’s time to make the filling.
- Place 1lb. of walnuts into a food processor and pulse until medium grind. Grind your cloves and melt the butter. Place crushed walnuts into a large bowl and add sugar, ground cloves, cinnamon, and halved walnuts and mix. Add 2 cups of flour one at a time and combine.
- After the dough has risen, flour your surface and knead the dough for 1 minute until it’s semi-sticky. Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll the dough and sprinkle flour while rolling the dough out. Open dough in a rectangular shape approximately 12″x10″ about 1/8″ inch thick.
- Sprinkle roughly 1 cup of walnut crumble over the dough evenly. Don’t cover 1/2″ around the rim of the dough. Roll dough from the long end until you reach the other side. Tuck the end of the dough underneath.
- Cut your pastry about 1″ apart place it on a silicone-lined baking sheet and line them up close together. (Do not seperate, keep them tight together.) Repeat these steps until all nut rolls have been formed and cut. Brush on egg yolk and milk over the top of each roll.
- Bake rolls for 30-35 minutes at 350° F. (Bake time might vary depending on oven temperature. Approx: bake time averages between 30-45 minutes.) Allow your rolls to completely cool off before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe makes about 60 rolls.
You might need an extra 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sifted flour for kneading and forming rolls.
The dough must be semi-sticky and yet firm. Make sure your dough is set to fermentate at room temperature. If the dough is too soft, place the dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before rolling it out. This allows your dough to firm up, making it easier to roll out and bake better. If your dough is too soft it might lose its form while baking. (See the video to get a better visual of dough consistency.)
*** Our Nutrition information is estimated, so please make sure to check your own calculation to fit your diet.
- Prep Time: 4 Hours
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven Baked
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keywords: Gata, Gatah, Katah, Nazzok, Walnut Roll, Nut Roll, Dessert, Holiday Roll, Holiday Dessert, Armenian Dessert,
Frequently asked questions: walnut roll pastry
No, they are raw and not roasted for this recipe.
Yes, you can switch it to pistachios, hazelnuts or almonds.
Yes, they can go go bad if they stay in warm temperatures for a long time. For instance, if they tend to have a very strong chemical smell like paint thinner they are bad. They also shrivel up and have a rubbery texture when they go bad. In other words, fresh walnuts smell mildly nutty and taste sweet.
If there is too much flour in the dough, you will notice the dough will crack once baked. Another way it can crack is if you overbake the dough. Also, make sure to add the right amount of flour and don’t overbake, watch cook time, and don’t roll the dough too thin to prevent it from cracking.
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WRITE US A REVIEW BELOW ⬇️
We would love to hear your thoughts if you tried out our recipe! 😊
I made this recipe after seeing the video and it turned out so delicious!! I highly recommend. Best walnut pastry I have tasted!
★★★★★
What can be used in place of the shortening?
What you can replace the shortening with is melted butter. I have not tried that myself but some of my followers have tried it and they said it turned out great! I would love to hear how it turns out.😊
Looks delicious and so elegant mouth watering
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it and my oh my it was so delicious. I shared it with my family they all loved it. ❤️
★★★★★
So glad you and your family loved it! 🤗
Galore my dear, just wanted to say that you’re recipes are so delicious 😋 you are a great chef.
I so far have made few of your recipes, and I must say that they are simply awesome 👌. Keep up the terrific job. I can’t wait until the next recipe.
★★★★★