Pages

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

ABC - Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

The ABC bakers are tackling their second recipe from "The Weekend Baker" by Abby Dodge. This time it's a yeast recipe that's a favorite for many: Glazed Cinnamon Rolls. I love cinnamon rolls, BUT... they have to be homemade. Our mall has one of those famous cinnamon roll shops but I have no trouble walking past them and not buying a cinnamon roll that's the size of my head. And with this month's ABC recipe, making cinnamon rolls at home couldn't be easier. They're made with ingredients that anybody can pronounce and they're finger-licking good, especially warm from your oven. Ok, I'll get off my soap box now :o) Let's bake!!

Homemade cinnamon roll with sliced almonds (no glaze) - look at that fluffy interior :o)

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers, please email me at HanaasKitchen [at] live [dot] com. The rules for the ABC baking group can be found here.



As you've probably come to know from reading my blog is that I like to use the dough cycle of my bread machine for kneading most doughs. This cinnamon roll dough was no exception. Look how beautiful pliable and soft the dough looks.

The dough in the bread machine

I made the dough on Friday night. Of course, I made some changes to the dough (see the "Final thoughts/tips" section). As soon as the bread machine was done kneading the dough (which takes 30 min), I put the dough inside a covered oiled container, and let it rise overnight in the fridge. Actually, I ended up keeping it in the fridge for about 18 hours without any issues. I got this tip from a fellow ABC-er, Karin.

The plan was to serve these warm for dessert. When I took the dough out of the fridge, it was very cold and pretty stiff which made it great to handle (no stickiness or anything). I rolled it out into a rectangle, brushed it with a couple tablespoons of heavy cream (instead of melted butter), sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mixture on top, and rolled into a log.





I like to use dental floss to cut the log into neat slices. You can find a tutorial on how to use dental floss for cutting dough in this post.

Before the final rise
Right after baking

Bon appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:
  • My husband loved the unglazed cinnamon rolls. They were sweet enough as-is. He gave them a good 9 out of 10 rating.
  • I loved them too. The interior is so tender and soft. The overnight rest in the fridge gave it a great flavor. And the crunch from the sliced almonds on top was a nice contrast. I shared them with a few friends and they all loved them.
  • The recipe makes 12 generous cinnamon rolls. They freeze really well. When you're in the mood for one, just nuke it briefly in the microwave and then re-crisp them in the oven or toaster oven at 350 for about 4-5 minutes.
  • Changes to the dough:
  • 1) used 1 cup of 1% milk + 1-2 Tbsp water (instead of 1 cup whole milk)
  • 2) used 2 oz (4 Tbsp) of butter + 1 oz vegetable oil in the dough (instead of 4 oz butter)
  • 3) replaced 25% of the white flour with King Arthur Flour White Whole Wheat flour
  • 4) added a splash of vanilla extract to the dough
  • Changes to the filling:
  • 1) replaced 6 Tbsp of melted butter with 2 Tbsp of heavy cream
  • 2) used 1 Tbsp of cinnamon instead of 2-1/2  tsp (per Abby's recommendation)
  • Topping (glaze replacement):
  • 1) used an egg wash of egg whites, water, and orange blossom water
  • 2) sprinkled the unblanched sliced almonds on the cinnamon rolls prior to baking
  • My cinnamon rolls baked for 32 minutes at 350F.
  • You can find the recipe for these delicious cinnamon rolls in The Weekend Baker. If you don't own the book, you can also find the recipe on Cookstr.
  • Don't forget to check out the cinnamon rolls by the other ABC bakers. You can find links to their posts here
  • I'm submitting this post to Susan's weekly round-up of yeast recipes at YeastSpotting.

29 comments:

  1. these look good! I my mom recently made some homemade ones with my brother they turned out well also. Those look terrific! Now I am starving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Raquel. You can't go wrong with homemade cinnamon rolls!

      Delete
  2. I was waiting for this post and praying that you'd include the recipe. You did, yes!!!!! I am so going to try it out - especially after seeing that you made the dough in your bread machine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Anat! I thought you might be interested in making these :o) How did yours turn out?

      Delete
  3. These look great! I'm going to see how you use dental floss next! Judy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Dental floss makes really nice and clean cuts.

      Delete
  4. I wish I had known about the dental floss cutting - great idea. That was my only problem, my slices were a bit uneven. I'll definitely make these again, perhaps, like you, substituting even more white flour with whole wheat pastry (I did 10%).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karin, I guess you'll have to make these cinnamon rolls again so you can try the dental floss method (I'm sure your husband wouldn't mind that one bit) :o)

      Delete
  5. These are indeed delicious rolls! My family really enjoyed it! I omitted the glaze too and the rolls are as delicious! Your subs using cream for the filling sounds good!
    Could not wait to see what's in store after March!!
    I'm still waiting for my book to arrive and it has been a month, seems like forever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you and your family enjoyed these. I agree. You don't need the glaze if you don't like overly sweet baked goods :o)

      Delete
  6. Loved these Cinnamon Rolls. They were the BEST I have ever made. I did make the glaze, and yes it was sweet, but I made it with half and half instead of the whipped cream. My lo-cal version. These will be a holiday and special occasion staple at my house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you liked these. Half and half sounds like a good low-cal substitute for cream :o)

      Delete
  7. They look perfect! I will try the dental floss thing next time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Chelly. The dental floss makes cutting so much less messy, I wouldn't go back to using a knife.

      Delete
  8. Those rolls look so light and fluffy Hanaa! Good idea topping the rolls with almonds too. I also love the substitutions that you made....I think subbing some of the butter with oil guarantees a tender loaf. I'll be doing that from now on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They sure were light and fluffy, Janis. I like the oil substitution in bread. Makes bread very tender indeed.

      Delete
  9. Gorgeous, Hanaa! they look delicious and very pretty unglazed :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those look perfect...airy and sweet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Indie. These were airy indeed :o)

      Delete
  11. Yum! I missed the pull-apart shot in mine, they disappeared before my eyes haha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no doubt they disappeared that quickly :o) They were a big hit here too!

      Delete
  12. MMMmmm... what beautiful buns, Hanaâ! Yet another feat against the yeast monster- Yay! I'm glad you've had another success from "The Weekend Baker." I'm really looking forward to joining along!

    Just wanted to check- did you get the email I sent you a few weeks back? Hope everything's okay... if for some reason it never got to you, please let me know!

    Hope to talk to you soon,
    Joy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joy. Thanks for stopping by. This was another hit from The Weekend Baker. I would love for you to join ABC!! :o)
      I did get your email. Sorry for taking so long to write back. I will soon though.

      Delete
  13. Delicious! Love the almond flakes on top, without anything they would look a bit bare. Great recipe, thanks Hanâa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lien. The sliced almonds added a nice touch indeed. Glad you enjoyed these rolls too :o)

      Delete
  14. Hanaa, you did a beautiful job with this. Cinnamon rolls are my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your rolls look so light and delicious. I would love to join in the Baking Event. I would send you an e-mail soon.
    Happy Love Day!
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.