Peanut Rolls take time to make. First you bake a sponge cake, and then you have to go through the steps of icing them and rolling them in ground up peanuts. I will tell you this, though – they are well worth the effort. Dot used a grinder like this one for the peanuts:
As kids, Dot and Emily often took us on camping trips. One of the things we looked forward to was peanut rolls. She rarely made them for anything but trips. As I grew up, camping trips became less frequent, and peanut rolls seemed to have just slipped away. Recently, though, my cousin Rose brought some to a family gathering. Each bite brought a burst of delicious flavor, as well as sweet- memory overload.
To save a bit of time, you can bake the cake a day early.
If you make these, I would love to have your feedback on them!
Peanut Rolls
- Sponge Cake:
- 4 Eggs
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1/2 t. Salt
- 2 t. Vanilla
- 2 Melted Butter or Margarine
- 1 cup BOILING HOT Milk
- 2 cups Flour
- 2 t. Baking Powder
- Icing:
- 2 Margarine (or butter, softened)
- 1 t. Vanilla
- 1 box Powdered Sugar (approximately 2 cups)
- Milk
- Spanish Peanuts (ground)
- Cake: Grease and flour a 13x9x2” pan. Beat eggs until very light. Beat in sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add melted butter or margarine and hot milk. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Add to liquid ingredients, mixing well. Immediately pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.
- To Assemble Rolls:
- Mix powdered sugar and softened butter until partially incorporated. Add vanilla. Add just enough milk to make frosting spreadable with a knife. You don’t want a thick cake-like icing, or a watery-thin icing. Just thin enough to soak into the cake and hold peanuts to the sides. Cut cake into squares (as big or small as you want). Ice squares on all sides one at a time and roll in ground peanuts. These are best eaten with a day.
Notes from Dot:
1) The best way to grind the nuts is with a food grinder. A food processor might be okay, but you run the risk of grinding them too fine.
2) You may have to experiment with the icing a bit to get it just right.
