Nana’s Potica recipe – a Slovenian nut roll traditionally served at Easter and Christmas, or any family gathering. Make this dessert to give as gifts or for holiday dinner parties. Grandma makes the best potica!
My Nana was an awesome baker.
When I would visit her in summers growing up, I would spend hours leafing through her cookbooks with dreams of owning my own bakery when I grew up.
Little did either of us know that my fascination would instead turn into a food blog one day.
I’m actually trying to imaginetrying to explain what a blog is to my Nana. I’m not sure she even understood whata computer is!
I know I’mso lucky to have these memories of her since most people never even know their great-grandparents, let alone get to spend time with them in the kitchen.
My Nana passed away a couple weeks ago. She would have turned 99 years old this summer. Maybe her baking had something to do with her long life?
I’ll believe it.
I’ve sharedher Easter bread recipe on here before, and another recipe she would make for the holiday is this sweet potica (pronounced po-teet-sah).
A traditional Slovenian nut roll traditionally made for Easter and Christmas.
Making her potica recipe seemed like a perfect way to honor Nana.
The yeast dough is refrigerated (trust me, this helps), then rolled out and a sweet walnut filling is scooped on top. Then rolled tightly.
Try not to overstuff the filling before rolling – if you have leftover you can always add it as a topping.
I made 4 loaves out of my batch, which is why they are smaller circles than you might have seen in potica before.
If you separate the dough into only 2 larger loaves then you’ll get more of the “swirls”.
You’ll just need a larger area to roll out the dough initially, but they will obviously be thicker rolls resulting in more layers.
Everyone in my family loves this bread.
One time my aunt TRIPLEDthe recipe, and still had to make more for Easter brunch because everyone was eating it up.
I hope you’re proud, Nana. Love you.
Need more Easter recipe ideas? Check out this list of 40+ vegetarian Easter mains, sides, and desserts.
Yield: 2 loaves
Nana's Potica
Nana's Potica recipe - a Slovenian nut roll traditionally served at Easter and Christmas.
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Rise time2 hours
Total Time3 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast, (2 packets)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 egg yolks, (save the egg whites for the filling)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (plus more for rolling out as needed)
For the walnut filling:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 lb ground walnuts
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the yeast and water and mix together to make a paste. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add salt, egg yolks, sour cream, and start adding the flour 1 cup at a time until combined.
- Add the proofed yeast (should be bubbly) to the flour mixture and combine. Dough will be sticky.
- Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight (see note*)
- Remove dough from fridge and separate into 2 balls (***see notes)
- Roll out each ball into rectangles (about 1/4 of an inch works well), adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Mix together all ingredients for nut filling and spread evenly over dough, leaving a little room near the edges so it doesn't overflow when rolled.
- Roll tightly.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Let rise for 1 hour (will rise more in the oven if the dough has been refrigerated for a longer time)
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until browned.
Notes
I tried this recipe by refrigerating the dough only briefly (30 minutes to an hour) and also overnight. If you are in a hurry, it will still turn out mostly the same by refrigerating briefly but the longer time will help the dough be more manageable when you need to roll it out from my experience.
*Calories are for 1/12 of a loaf based on 2 loaves.
**This nut roll can be served hot or cooled - whichever your preference! Kind of like a cookie. I prefer room temperature.
***I made 4 loaves out of my batch, which is why they are smaller circles than you might have seen in potica before. If you separate the dough into only 2 larger loaves then you'll get more of the "swirls". You'll just need a larger area to roll out the dough initially, but they will obviously be thicker rolls resulting in more layers.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1/24 of recipe
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 309Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 105mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 2gSugar: 18gProtein: 5g
Nutrition information is calculated automatically by an online tool at Nutritionix. It is not always accurate. Please use your own tools to check if you rely on this information.
