Rhubarb Rolls
My dad used to make these rhubarb rolls when I was young and I didn’t really like them. I think I just didn’t appreciate them. But I saw rhubarb in the grocery store the other day and immediately thought of making these rolls for Hubby. Growing up, we always had these for breakfast but they are sweet enough that they could be served for dessert as well. The rhubarb has a tangy tartness that balances out the sweetness of this recipe. We both really enjoyed them and Hubby even had two!
See that pink syrup on the plate. That’s the key to the success of these rolls. It’s the basting sauce mixed with the syrup in the pan while baking. Hubby thought it was weird to bake these rolls in so much “water” – I explained that it was a very sugary water that would make these rolls delicious. Be sure to pour some of this sauce over the rolls that you put on your plate! It’s fantastic!
Rhubarb Rolls – from my Dad – makes 8 rolls
Syrup:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Biscuit Dough:
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cups milk – I used Soymilk
Filling:
3 Tbsp melted butter – I used Earth Balance
5 cups chopped rhubarb – divided into 2 c and 3 c – I cut the 3 cups for the filling smaller than the 2 cups for the sauce
Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup water
Combine 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water; boil 5 min. Pour into greased rectangular baking pan. (I used a 9×13 glass casserole dish).
Make biscuit dough by sifting flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add shortening and milk and stir lightly.
Knead on floured board. Roll into a 12 inch square ~1/3 inch thick.
Brush with melted butter. Spread dough with 3 cups of cut rhubarb and roll as for jelly rolls.
Cut into 1 1/2 inch slices and place in syrup in pan.
Bake at 400 for 40 min. Make sauce by boiling 2 cups cut rhubarb, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/3 cup water. During baking, baste with sauce. (I baked the rolls for 10 minutes and then poured the sauce on and baked the remaining 30 minutes).
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I always loved fig newtons too 🙂 I have never thought of making my own. Now I know where to find a great recipe 😉
I am going to have to make these. As well as making them with some blackberries.
These look amazing and waaaay better than the store bought brand.
My husband loves fig newtons – just added this to my ever growing list of things to make!
I liked Newtons until they messed with the recipe…Maybe this version will be yummier.
I love the idea of making these at home! I still buy Newtons from time to time…they’re so nice and wholesome.
You are so creative! My family loves Fig Newtons….can’t wait to make these!
My boyfriend and I were just talking about fig newtons this evening! I was saying how much I loved them but hadnt had them recently.. and heres a way to make them myself!
I moved to the US when I was 15 so I didn’t grow up eating fig newtons but I liked them at my very first bite. I’m sure the homemade version is so much more gourmet 😉 Your pics make it look like raspberry filling which I bet would be amazing!!
These bring me back to my childhood! Only, these look infinitely more delicious and decadent. The Blue-Eyed Bakers must make these soon!
They look fantastic, and I’ve never actually been that much of a Fig Newton fan. Love the polka dot background for the pics too.
I love fig newtons. Hopefully, I can find my figs around here so I can try these.
http://www.lindaslunacy.blogspot.com
Congratulations on making one of the top food blogs!
Jonathan
Gluten Free
I was always a fig newton-lover as a kid too! Glad I wasn’t the only one and these homemade ones look fantastic!
I did make these and loved them! I did just what you suggested and used a little less of dough for that amount of filling and just made some grape jam filled ones with the rest of the dough. They came out perfect! Thanks for sharing!
http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/fig-newtons.html
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
Laurel, Mikey & Quinn – Yes, scoop out the flesh and seeds and discard the skins. Let me know how they turn out!
Thank you for posting this! Great recipe and I want to try with different fillings. I used strawberry for mine – yummy!
In response to the dough ratio, I made it the way you posted but ended up with very thin dough once it was rolled out to 12×16 inches. I think you should leave it doubled.
Hi, I want to make raspberry newtons and am finding it very hard to get an easy recipe online… think I could use this dough with raspberry jam?
beantownbaker — May 16th, 2013 @ 8:41 am
You could definitely use raspberry jam for the filling!
I made them with 3 different fillings: strawberry jam, blueberry pie filling and vanilla cream. All came out very tasty, and also last freezing nicely.
A few comments:
1. The dough was not easy to deal with, even after cooling. It was sticky and fell apart easily.
2. With the first roll I made, I sliced it to cookies and separated them on the baking pan before baking. All of the Jam oozed out. The other ones I sliced but didn’t move the pieces, and it came out well.
3. I think in order to taste like real newtons they lack some oats/cereal. Any Idea of how to add some to the dough?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 1:10 pm
I would think you could grind up some oats and replace some of the flour with the ground up oats. If you try it, I’d love to hear how they turn out!