Name: Pistachio Rolls with Honey Rosewater Glaze
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 125 min
Total time: 165 min
Yield: 12 buns
Ingredients: For the Dough; 1 cup milk; 4 Earl Grey tea bags; 3¼ cups flour; 1 teaspoon fine salt, divided; 2¼ teaspoon yeast; ¼ cup sugar; 1 large egg; ¼ cup melted butter; Zest of 2 large lemons, preferably unwaxed or organic; 1 cup pistachio butter; 1 cup brown sugar; 3 teaspoons cinnamon; 1 cup powdered sugar; 2 tablespoons honey; 1 teaspoon rosewater (optional); 6 teaspoons milk; ¼ cup finely chopped raw pistachios; 1 tablespoon edible rose petals, crushed (optional)

Sweets

Pistachio Rolls with Honey Rosewater Glaze

Author: Mary DiSomma

There’s something magical about a warm sweet roll and a really good cup of coffee. I’ll never say no to a classic cinnamon roll, but sometimes it’s fun to take a little culinary detour. I love foods from all over the world, and I adore Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors. So one day, I started dreaming about what would happen if a soft, pillowy breakfast bun borrowed inspiration from baklava. That’s how this pistachio roll recipe came to be drenched in a homemade honey and rosewater glaze.

These breakfast rolls feel so special I want to make them when there’s something worth celebrating—like when my daughter moved into a new home recently. If there’s not a special occasion happening, just remember that you deserve something special with your morning coffee too!

Pistachio Rolls with Honey Rosewater Glaze

Ingredient Tips

Using a stand mixer makes life easier. I’m not opposed to letting a machine do some of the heavy lifting! But if you don’t have a stand mixer (or if you just feel like doing things the old-fashioned way), you can make these pistachio buns by hand.

To make them without a mixer, start by mixing the dough ingredients in a large bowl until a shaggy dough forms, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky. Kitchen therapy!

Preparation + Preservation Tips

Yeast loves warmth, not heat. My favorite proofing spot is a draft-free corner of the kitchen, near (not on top of!) my warm oven. If your house runs cool, one easy trick is to place the covered bowl inside an oven that’s turned off with just the inside light on. You want the dough for these pistachio morning buns to double in size, but not too fast. The smell of Earl Grey, lemon zest, and buttery dough drifting through your kitchen is every bit as dreamy as it sounds!

This is an old bakery trick, and you might find that it feels oddly satisfying to execute. When you use a knife—even a sharp one—to cut the dough, it will get partially squished. Unflavored dental floss slices cleanly through the log without compressing it or messing up the interior of the rolls. Simply slide the floss under the dough, cross the ends over the top, and pull. Perfect rounds every time!It’s especially helpful when making soft-filled buns like these pistachio cinnamon rolls, where you want those swirls to stay pretty.

The most common culprits that cause dense yeast rolls are too much flour, under-kneading, expired yeast, or not giving the dough enough time to rise. Since flour measurements can vary dramatically, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale for consistent baking. Another sneaky issue is milk temperature. If it’s too hot, you can damage the yeast before the dough even gets started. These pistachio sticky buns (well—not technically sticky buns, but you know what I mean) should bake up soft, tender, and airy if you follow the recipe below.

Sometimes making a yeast dough ahead of time is possible. But there are a lot of factors that affect the success of a move like that. If you’re familiar with yeast dough already, use your best judgment. If you haven’t cooked a lot with yeast dough before, I recommend making this recipe all the same day you plan to bake your rolls. Trust me, it will be worth it!