The Quest for Snails (Schnecken)

When I went off to college, there was one recipe I asked my Grandma Riesterer for: Snails.  No, not the shelled gastropods also known as escargot, the German cinnamon-roll like pastry also known as Schnecken.  Grandma would make them on the occasional easter or other special occasion, and they were always my favorite.  That recipe card hung on my fridge through my first two apartments.  Then I moved to California, and somehow the recipe card didn't make the move.  It was a tragedy.  By then, Grandma wasn't in great health, and I'd already been given most of her recipe books and cards.  Alas, the coveted snail recipe was not found among them.  Fast forward 7 years to today, when I just wanted to make a nice coffee cake and thought one of Grandma's old books might have a good option.  As I paged through the bread and cake section I came across a Schnecken recipe and immediately decided I would try to replicate Grandma's snails instead.  I knew right away this wasn't the exact recipe; Grandma's used chocolate chips instead of nuts, but the yeasted milky dough looked close so I decided to give it a whirl and wing it on the filling.  Grandma's also had a simple icing on top that this recipe didn't call for.

The Settlement Cook Book, page 82.  Copyright 1976

As a first attempt, I'm pretty happy with the results.  Happy enough to write down what I did and continue to iterate until I get it right at least.  While Snails look like a cinnamon roll, they're much drier than a typical American sticky bun.  The dough is drier, almost biscuit like, and the filling shouldn't be gooey except for the oozy chocolate chips when they're fresh out of the oven. 

You may have noticed that the recipe is quite vague on some important details, like how thick or wide to roll the dough, how long to let them rise, and how long to let bake.  I did some googling for Schnecken and combined what I found on the internet to make this starting recipe:

Dough:
1 Package Active Dry Yeast
1/4 c warm tap water
1 c butter, slightly softened
5 egg yolks
3/4 c lukewarm cream
3 c flour

Filling:
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing:
5 Tbsp cream
125 grams powdered sugar

Yield: 24-27 rolls (Mine made 27, but the thicker ones were better so aim for only 24)

Set the butter, eggs, and cream out on the counter for an hour or more until everything is room temperature.

When you're ready to begin, lightly stir the yeast into the warm water and put in a quiet place so it can bloom.  Cream the butter on medium-high for about 10 minutes.  Add the eggs yolks, one at a time.  They looked kind of like scrambled eggs when I decided they were done. 



Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and slowly add the cream, then the yeasty water.  I stopped to scrape the bowl fairly often.  Switch to a pastry hook and add the flour a little at a time, until it pulls away from the bowl and forms a ball.

Turn out the dough ball onto a silicone baking mat and knead a few times, then shape into a rectangle.



Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle.  My baking mat is 14x20 inches, and I rolled it nearly to the edges.

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar. cinnamon, and chocolate chips, then sprinkle over the rolled dough.



Roll the dough tightly from the long side into a log.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so to make the dough easier to slice.



Using a sharp knife, slice the log into 1/2" rounds and place a few inches apart on a baking mat.  If not using baking mats, I would grease the pan or use parchment paper.  Place the rolls in a warm place to rise.  I let mine rise on the top of a warm oven for about 90 minutes.  Here's the before and after:

before rising

After rising.  They didn't rise much, just rounded out a bit

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until just beginning to brown.  Transfer to wire racks to cool 3-5 minutes after removing from oven.  

Mix the cream and powdered sugar for the icing together with a whisk in a small bowl.  Lightly spread the icing on the warm Snails.

The end result was a dry but not quite crunchy confection that is not very sweet.  It's somewhere between a cinnamon roll and a shortbread cookie in texture and flavor. As I mentioned above, they were a good first attempt.  These are supposed to be dry, but the ones I cut a little on the thin side were almost too dry, and I don't think they were quite sweet enough unless I really piled on the icing.  In the future, I will try doubling the cinnamon sugar in the filling, adding a quarter cup more chocolate chips, and also experiment with using whole milk instead of heavy cream in the dough.  Most of the recipes I googled called for milk, and I'm curious to see how that changes the end result.  If you make these, let me know, especially if you grew up eating them, too.  I'm eager for feedback!