Rooibos Vanilla Sweet Rolls

It's tea time!

Rooibos tea is very popular here in the Netherlands. I even heard once that tea in general was described as "angels peeing on your tongue." Ha ha. So, I decided to make a Rooibos tea sweet roll. I've tried several different Rooibos variations - one with vanilla, caramel and I also really like the mango peach variety. But for today's sweet roll I went with vanilla. Then while I was eating the finished roll together with a friend, she also mentioned the caramel variety and I said, don't finish your roll - wait a minute. I went to my refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Dr Oeteker Caramel sauce and we drizzled the rolls with it. It was perfect. So - for the future... next Rooibos sweet rolls we make - are going to be the caramel variety.

My friend said the rolls were very vanilla - but that you could really taste this after taste of rooibos tea on your tongue - that tingly feeling you get from tea... so, maybe a bit less vanilla in the glaze would have been better as well.

The other thing about this particular roll is the dough recipe. I don't always use the same dough mix - I like to experiment and try different recipes. This particular recipe uses quite a lot of yeast and the dough rose a lot. I could have easily gotten 24 sweet rolls out of this recipe but I kept the rolls quite large - and that might have been a mistake because as the dough started to rise for the second time I thought that maybe the rolls wouldn't even fit on the baking sheet - so I baked maybe sooner than I should have - but I'm also a bit impatient and was eager to taste them, too.




The Dough:
2 envelopes active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups luke warm rooibos tea (vanilla variety)
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup shortening, melted margarine or oil (plus extra to butter bowl)
5 cups flour (plus extra, if needed)


(1) Seep two tea bags of rooibos vanilla tea into 2 cups piping hot water. Allow to cool to luke warm temperature.
(2) In a large mixing bowl combine yeast and sugar. When tea is luke warm, pour 1 3/4 cups tea into the mix. Save the other 1/4 cup tea for the glaze. Then add salt, eggs and oil and mix. Add one cup of flour at a time and mix. It will be sticky. Add additional flour as needed and knead to make a elastic - not too sticky dough ball.  Add about 1 tablespoon more butter or oil to bowl. Turn dough to oil top and cover with plastic wrap (not warm wet towl... because this dough will rise - a lot). Put in warm place till doubled in size.

Vanilla Creme filling: (Adapted from Great American Favorite Brand Names Cook Book)
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups powdered sugar

(3) In a small saucepan, blend flour and milk; cook over low heat, stirring constantly with wire whisk, until mixture thickens and just begins to boil. Remove from heat and refrigerate.

(4) In a mixing bowl, cream butter and margarine till smooth. Add in vanilla, salt and refrigerated flour/milk mix. Mix until smooth and then beat in the powdered sugar gradually until spreading consistency.

(5) After dough has risen, remove and punch down. On a lightly floured surface roll dough out into large rectangle about 1-2 centimeters thick. Spread with Vanilla Creme Filling. Roll into jelly roll and cut into 16-24 slices. Place on prepared baking sheets and allow to rise again in warm place. Meanwhile, prepare glaze.

Vanilla-Rooibos Glaze:
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup rooibos tea

(6) In saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Blend in powdered sugar, vanilla extract and rooibos tea. Stir until smooth and creamy. Remove from heat.
(7) After rolls have risen second time, bake in oven at 175-C degrees for 20-22 minutes, or until tops golden brown. Remove from oven and pour Vanilla-Rooibos Glaze over top. Allow to cool a few minutes before enjoying.
(8) Optional: drizzle with Dr. Oeteker Caramel Sauce or similar product if desired.

Oven fresh with Vanilla- Rooibos Glaze poured over!

Rooibos Vanilla Sweet Rolls