Apple Dates Roll (eggless)

Apple Dates Roll (eggless)

For some reason, I have ended up with loads of apple at home. Well, that’s not entirely correct, I know why it is the case. It is because everytime I went food shopping, I thought I will get better at cutting and eating apples at some point during the day but that did not happen. Anyway, I thought this is a good excuse to bake some apple based dishes. Couple of days back I make apple crumble cake and that came out very well. I then wanted to make apple turnover but could not be bothered with the pastry then. I also fancied making something like cinnamon rolls but had a suscpicion that it may not go down well with my folks. So, a hybrid recipe had to be created. I decided to make rolls with apple in them and also added dates as I wanted to finish them off and ofcourse I thought natural sugars from it would be better than added sugar. With all this in mind, I set out to make an eggless roll. Like many moms who have babies, I struggle to find a good length of time in the kitchen and for that reason this recipe was good. I would prepare the dough and get away, then make filling, then another time make the rolls and a while later, bake them. However, I promptly ate them! Here is the recipe and I would appreciate if you could try it and give me your feedback.

1 cup all purpose flour or bread flour

1 cup wholewheat flour

2 teaspoons dry yeast

3 pinches salt

¼ cup brown sugar

¾ cup warm milk

¼ cup warm water

2 tablespoon soft butter

For filling

½ cup chopped dates (about 15 dates)

1 large apple, chopped finely

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon flaked almonds

Firstly, activate the yeast by dissolving it in the warm water. Give it about 10-15 minutes so it becomes frothy

Mix together the flours, salt, sugar

Add the yeast mixture, warm milk, butter and make a dough. It will be a sticky dough

Dust with some flour and knead the dough for about 8 minutes, by now it would not be sticky. 

Cover with wet tea towel and keep in a warm place for about an hour or until it doubles in volume

For the filling, bring together all ingredients except almonds and cook in water until well cooked. Mash it down

Make sure all the water has evaporated and the fruits are paste like and allow to cool

Now punch the dough that has proven and knead for couple of minutes

Roll this into a rectangle as thick as the 5-8mm thick

Put the fruit mixture evenly on top and sprinkle the flaked almonds

Roll this up starting from one of the longest edges, seal by pressing down

Using a sharp knife, cut into about 1.5 inch wide pieces

Arrange these on a lined baking tray and cover with wet tea towel and allow to rise for an hour

Sprinkle some white sugar on top if you like. Bake at 175degC for about 12-15 minutes and rest in the oven for another five minutes, with oven turned off

Serve!