Cinnamon Rolls

I endeavour to bake something every week, partly because it saves us having to buy sweet snacks, and partly because it provides a productive distraction from studying. Simon requested Danish Pastries (which I call Cinnamon Rolls, probably because I read too many Amish novels) but it took me a while to get around to making them as I was cautious of using yeast. Thankfully I found this wonderful recipe, which omits yeast entirely but still works out perfectly. I didn't change anything about this recipe, except the frosting, so credit is owed entirely to MomsWhoThink.com.

Cinnamon Rolls

The margarine is featured as I was worried I
wouldn't have enough butter

Makes: 6 - 8

Preparation Time: 20 - 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 - 25 minutes

Ingredients for Rolls

2 1/2 cups (320g) of plain (all-purpose) flour 

2 tablespoons of white (granulated) sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking (bicarbonate) soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 1/4 cups (295ml) of buttermilk (the Dale Farm Lakeland Buttermilk contains the exact quantity needed for this recipe)

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/220 degrees C/Gas 7. Grease a 9-inch cake tin.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

3. In a separate bowl whisk the buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of melted butter together.

4. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until it is all absorbed, for about 30 seconds. The dough should look shaggy. (This description sounds weird but it makes perfect sense once you've made this).

5. Turn the dough out on to a generously floured counter or board and knead until smooth, for about 1 minute. 

6. Roll the dough out into a rectangle of 9 x 12 inches. 

7. Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

8. Prepare the cinnamon filling.

Ingredients for Cinnamon Filling

3/4 cup (165g) of packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup (50g) of white (granulated) sugar

3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted

9. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the butter until the mixture resembles wet sand. (I'm not sure if mine entirely looked like wet sand, but it did the job.)

This is the mixture before I added the butter. Doesn't the reflection of my camera's flash off the inside of the metallic bowl make it look like there's a heart in the sugar mixture? I thought this was sweet. 

10. Sprinkle the filling evenly across the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. (Seriously, make sure you leave a border or a lot of the mixture falls out and makes a mess when you roll it up, so expect cinnamon and sugar all over your counter if you ignore this instruction, as I did...)

11. Starting at the long side, roll the dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. If you struggle to get the dough off the board/counter then use a metal spatula or bench scraper. 

12. Pinch the seam to seal then slice the dough into 8 even pieces. (Mine made 8 but 2 of them were really small, so figure out what works best for your dough, it may only be 6 or 7)

As you can see, my rectangle wasn't terribly even, hence the
very small rolls at either end of my log.

13. Place the slices in the greased pan and brush them with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. 

14. Bake until the edges are golden brown, which should take 20 - 25 minutes. 

15. Use a knife to loosen the rolls from the pan, and flip them on to a wire cooking rack. Turn the rolls the right way up and let them cool for 10 minutes before frosting them. 

The recipe I used recommended a cheese cream frosting, but I used a simple icing sugar frosting instead. Here's what I'd suggest, although you may want to check out the original recipe for their take on the frosting.

Ingredients for Frosting

1 cup (128g) of icing (confectioner's) sugar

1 tablespoon of milk or water

Directions

1. Sift sugar into a bowl.

2. Mix in milk or water until it forms a paste with the sugar.

3. Coat on top of cinnamon rolls with a knife or spoon. 

4. Wait for frosting to set and then EAT.


— Rachel