Recipe #4: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Coming up with a new recipe this week was rather challenging. Our busy schedule meant we were eating out a couple nights during the week, and the free nights we did have at home generally called for quick and easy meals. Plus, we were flying out on Thursday night to Tremblant for the weekend (more on that later this week), so that also meant no homemade meals over the weekend (we’d have to settle for cheese and bread and beer. Aw, shucks!).

But I did think that I should at least bake something to bring along with us for our hosts and other guests at Tremblant and decided on Homemade Cinnamon rolls. Chef Michael Smith (Chef at Home) created this recipe (another winner!) and the picture was just too tempting to resist. Plus, making them ahead of time meant I could easily pack them in my suitcase. I actually made them over two days; first preparing the dough on Tuesday and letting it rise and then rest in the fridge overnight, and then rolling it out and baking them the next night after work. The only substitute I made to this recipe was to use Soy Milk in place of whole Milk in the dough recipe, but I don’t think anyone could taste the difference.

If you believe it, I actually measured and trimmed the dough to size when I was rolling it (using a tape measure and all!), so my cinnamon log was exactly the right length, and after cutting them into individual rolls, I ended up with about 18 of them (below left). After trimming to size, I had extra dough, which I rolled again to make a smaller log. This time, however, I got creative and spread with a mixture of peanut butter and honey (below right)! First spread on the peanut butter and then drizzle with honey. Smooth over the surface to combine and then roll. I’m not sure how well they turned out yet; I did cut them a little bit bigger than the cinnamon ones, and that means they will be a bit doughier. We haven’t had a chance to taste them yet, but I’m thinking I need to bring one for breakfast tomorrow.

Sadly, the glaze never actually made it with us as I couldn’t find a good way to transport it, but it sits in the fridge at home to use on the few rolls we put in the freezer for a later date.

It turns out these little rolls are not only a good breakfast treat in the morning, but they make a great snack to wrap and put in your ski jacket pocket, as our host Doug so cleverly thought up.

INGREDIENTS

DOUGH

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt5 cups flour

1 package instant yeast

4 eggs

FILLING

1/2 cup butter, room temperature (or even melted)

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

GLAZE

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 tablespoons cream

1 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

FOR the filling, mix all ingredients together and set aside.

FOR the glaze, stir together the vanilla, cream and powdered sugar until smooth; set aside.

WARM the milk in a small pot gently along with 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, the vanilla and the salt. Don’t bring to a simmer, warm just enough to melt the butter.

MEANWHILE, measure half the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer along with the yeast. Add the warm melted milk butter mixture to the flour and beat with a paddle attachment until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth before proceeding.

SWITCH to a dough hook and add the remaining flour. Knead until a soft dough forms that is no longer sticky to the touch, about five minutes.

REST the dough in a warm place, covered in a lightly oiled bowl until it doubles in size, about one to two hours.

KNOCK the dough down and let rest for a few minutes. Flour your work surface, the dough, your hands and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle shape, about 18x12-inches.

EVENLY spread the cinnamon butter over the top of the dough leaving an inch or two uncovered along one long edge. This will help a seal form. Roll tightly into a long cigar shape from the covered long edge to the uncovered long edge. Brush the outside of the log with oil or melted butter.

SLICE the dough log into 12 or 18 sections. Turn each on its side and position evenly in an appropriately sized lightly oiled baking pan. Rest, uncovered, until the dough doubles in size again and the rolls swell into each other.

PREHEAT your oven to 350 F. When the dough is ready, bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on pan.

When the cinnamon rolls have cooled enough to handle, drizzle the prepared glaze all over them. Serve immediately!

NOTE: I’ve decided that since I made up this New Year’s Resolution of one new recipe a week, I don’t have to stick to dinner meals; desserts and snacks also count. And now that I’ve found another new recipe site (http://www.finecooking.com/), which has a daily newsletter, it’s getting a bit easier to find new ideas. My BusyBeeBets Kitchen is certainly expanding (as is my waistline…).