Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Cinnamon Rolls

When I was a kid, I used to love cinnamon toast. Back then, it was plain bread, buttered, and topped with a little bit of sugar and a lot of cinnamon. Sometimes there was no sugar. That's how much I love cinnamon.

For special treats, sometimes there would be cinnamon swirl bread from the bakery. And on very rare occasions, there would be cinnamon rolls. Those were very special, with the sweet sugar glaze on top, and the rich, buttery bread and the cinnamon swirl.

What's even better than buying cinnamon rolls is making them. Because the smell of cinnamon and sweet yeasty bread baking is almost as good as eating the rolls. Almost.

These are great fresh from the oven, when they're just a little bit warm. Leftovers are great for French toast or bread pudding. If you have leftovers.

Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups (13 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 tablespoon Greek-style yogurt
1 egg
8 tablespoons room temperature butter, divided
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Milk, cream, or water, as needed

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the water, honey and yeast. Set aside until it's bubbly, about 10 minutes.

Add the bread flour, yogurt and egg. Knead with the dough hook until the mixture is smooth and elastic.

Add 4 tablespoons of the butter, the sugar, and the salt. Knead until they are fully incorporated.

Form the dough into a ball, return it to the bowl (no need to grease the bowl - it has enough butter to keep it from sticking too much. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Spray a 9x13 inch pan with baking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Flour your work surface lightly and turn out the dough. Form it into a rectangle, the roll it out to a rectangle about 18 inches x 11 inches.

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of the powdered sugar with the cinnamon. Stir to combine well. Spread this sugar mixture on top of the dough, leaving an inch uncovered on one of the long sides.

Roll up the dough beginning on the long side that's not uncovered. DON'T roll it tightly. When you get to the far end, pinch to close the seam. You should now have a roll that's about 18 inches long.

Divide the roll into 12 pieces. Place them in the prepared dish with the spirals facing up. If they're uneven heights, press them down so they're even. place pats of the rest of the butter on top of the rolls. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set aside until it has doubled in size, about 35 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees until nicely browned, about 30 minutes.

Remove the rolls from the pan, keeping them in one piece, and put them on a rack to cool.

Mix the remaining cup of powdered sugar with enough cream, milk, or water to make it thick but pourable. When the rolls have cooled, drizzle the glaze over the rolls.

This has been submitted to Yeastspotting.
Yum

5 comments:

Jen said...

yep. I need these.

MANISAH said...

Hi Donna, your cinnamon roll looks yummy. It's difficult to find Greek-styled yogurt at my place. Can itbe replaced with buttermilk? What would be the measurement then. Thanks

Donna Currie said...

If you can't find Greek yogurt, I'd suggest sour cream or creme fraiche, since the consistency is about the same. If you substitute buttermilk, it will be a little wetter, but it's not a huge amount, so it wouldn't be a big deal. You might need to add just a little more flour to compensate, or accidentally spill a little water before it gets to the bowl and it will be fine.

Leaper said...

I made french toast with leftover stale cinnamon rolls once and it was GLORIOUS.

kittyninja2000 said...

Sofa king GOOD! Two thumbs up from the kids and dh

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