Grandma Hardin's Hungarian Nut Rolls

2 1/2 pounds margarine or butter
3 dozen eggs
14 packages yeast
2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons salt
15 pounds flour
6 cans evaporated milk (15 oz cans)
3 cans water

nut mixture
2 cups of finely chopped nuts (walnuts usually)
1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

Melt margarine and set to cool. Heat milk, add salt and sugar. Let cool to lukewarm. Beat the eggs together and add to the milk. Add yeast and let set for 10 minutes after stirring. Add about 6 cups of flour and mix. Then add the cool margarine and rest of the flour. Knead and let raise. Punch down 2 times and let raise again. After final raising, make into small buns and let raise again. Mix nut mixture for filling. Roll out each bun into a rectangle and spread filling on the dough. Roll dough into a small loaf shape. Let raise in pans. Before putting in oven separate egg and use beaten yolk to spread over rolls. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

This takes all day to do. My grandmother knew how to cook for a small army and always made these at Christmas. If you don't want to deal with eggs measured in dozens and flour measured in pounds (or don't have industrial sized mixing bowls), I've reduced the ingredients to 1/3rd of the recipe and 1/6th.

1/3 recipe

3 1/3 sticks of margarine
12 eggs
10 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 t salt
20 cups flour
2 cans evaporated milk
1 can water

2/3 cup nuts
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg

1/6 recipe

1 2/3 sticks margarine
6 eggs
5 1/4 teaspoons yeast (2 packages would probably work)
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 teaspoon salt
10 cups flour
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 can water

1/3 cup nuts
1/6 cup sugar
1 egg

I made the 1/6 recipe last year and ended up using about 2 cups of nuts and 1 cup of sugar for the nut mixture. I don't know how she managed to spread it out as far as she did. I also don't know how she rolled it out as thin as my memory says that she did. So, they came out pretty good, but not exactly how I remember. Mom says they came out pretty close. I was pooped by the time I was finished and my grandmother made 6 times as many of these rolls. I may get adventurous and try the 1/3 recipe size this year. We'll see.

Smiles,
Linda