Dessert Rolls

Previous to this post I put up a feature ("CopyCat") of Elizabeth Nimphius's low-carb stromboli. This is a modified version of her dough recipe to be used for dessert rolls (think chocolate logs, rollups, pinwheels, etc). In this post I will focus on a cream cheese roll I made, but I will also show dark chocolate rolls.

I'd like to stress again how versatile Elizabeth's stromboli dough is, because I have many ideas bouncing around in my head about what to do with it!

Look at that dough! Hnnggg.

This one is a little bit blurry but you can still see how awesome it is :D!

Let's make some dessert rolls, people!

Servings: 12-18
Nutritional Information: again, I'm going to post the nutritional information later.

Prep Time: ~10 minutes
Cooking Time: ~15-20 minutes

Your Ingredients: 

Dough

• 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) almond flour
• 3 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/4 mozzarella cheese* 
• 1/4 cup sugar equivalent (I used 1/4 cup of Splenda)
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

* I have used pre-shredded and block cheese, both work. Also, Elizabeth's note from her blog: "Use 4 tbsp coconut flour OR omit the butter if you are using a higher fat cheese." 

Filling

You can get really creative with the fillings. Reduced sugar jams, peanut butter, pudding, etc. 

Cream Cheese (I used the same cream cheese icing I made for my pumpkin muffins).

• 1/2 cup plain cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup sugar equivalent (I used 1/4 Splenda)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Dark Chocolate

• 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped/broken/etc (I used Lindt 85%)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2-4 tbsp sugar equivalent (I used Splenda. Taste as you go)
• 1/4 tsp salt (omit salt if you use salted butter for the filling) 

Your Tools:

• 2 microwavable mixing bowls, a fork, and your hands
• Stand mixer (not an immersion blender!)
• A rolling pin and parchment paper/silicone baking mats
• A cookie sheet
• A small sauce pan and a heat resistant glass bowl, or a double boiler

The Directions:

Step 1 -

I recommend making your filling before your dough, because we don't want the dough to cool too much while we make the filling.

Dark chocolate filling: If you're not using a double boiler, fill your small saucepan about 1/2 way with water. Place your heat-resistant glass bowl over the sauce pan (most glass mixing bowls are great for melting stuff and don't get absurdly hot). Heat on medium and add your butter. As soon as it starts to melt, lower the temp to low-medium. Add your sweetener and mix until it is combined nicely, then add pieces of dark chocolate. Once everything is mixed smoothly, set aside.

Cream cheese filling: If your cream cheese is cold, cut it up into tbsp sized pieces and microwave for 20 second intervals. It should start to melt and should respond to being poked etc. Add sweetener, heavy cream, and vanilla. Blend thoroughly, until it looks like: 

 Set your cream cheese filling aside until the dough is ready.

Step 2 -

Preheat your oven to 400F. Pop your butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds and set aside (longer if the butter is really f-ing cold).

Step 3 -

How you proceed here is important (we reviewed this with the stromboli!). Microwave the cheese for 2 minutes at 30% power. If you don't know how to change the power on your microwave you better figure it out! My microwave has a "power" button which I press after the cooking time, and then I press "3" (for 30).

Ok. Why is this important? I learned the hard way that if you cook at 100% power you overcook the cheese, making it incredibly difficult to work with later. There are some pictures in my stromboli post demonstrating the difficulty. 

Step 4 -

While the cheese is in the microwave, beat your egg, sweetener, and vanilla until slightly frothy.

Step 5 -

After pulling the cheese from the microwave, mix it around with your fork and get it all sticky and perfect. Add your flours, butter, and egg mixture. Continue to combine. I personally like working with my hands for this part because I find it mixes better by squeezing than by stirring/folding. 

Initial mixing with a fork. My cheese cooled down quickly :(

As pointed out by Elizabeth you will probably have to microwave your cheese again to make sure everything gets incorporated nicely. I have found that 5-10 seconds is not enough so I usually do 30 seconds at 30% power.

After melting a second time I typically break out a dough balling technique I learned while working at a pizza place. You can see the technique in this video. However, I wouldn't recommend being as aggressive with your cheese dough as the dude in the video is with his pizza dough.

Your dough should look similar to this before you roll it out.
(I actually mixed it a bit more after I took this shot)

Step 6 -

If your dough has cooled considerably,  make sure to microwave it for a short time again before you roll it out. Get two pieces of parchment paper (one for under and one on top of the dough) and form a rectangular shape out of your dough. Grab your rolling pin and roll it out! I didn't measure the thickness after rolling, but you should be able to make it thin but not so much it breaks as soon as you pick up a piece of it. 

Step 6 -

Once your dough is rolled out, cover it with the filling you prepared earlier. 

Next, gently roll the dough! Try not to press too hard or you'll squeeze most of the filling out. You will probably only use 1/2 or 2/3 of the cream cheese icing, which is fine. Save the rest for a drizzle!

Step 7 -

Cut your log of yumminess into 12 or 18 pieces; be gentle but firm when cutting otherwise you'll squish all the filling out. Use the sharpest knife you have. Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes. 

Here I've marked 12 pieces, but you could easily get 18!

Step 8 -

My dark chocolate experiment. Messy but delicious. And yes, the uncut log was fully cooked!

Transfer your rolls onto a cooling rack and drizzle with the left over icing. You can use a piping bag, a baggie with the tip cut off, or a spoon.

Cool for a few minutes and eat one while it is still warm! They are good cool, too, but 10 seconds in the microwave makes them so freakin' good later.

xo,
Jennifer