CINNAMON ROLLS

Will I ever grow tired of posting about cinnamon rolls???? The answer is, absolutley not! I love cinnamon rolls, and there are so many different variations on cinnamon rolls; how to make cinnamon rolls, what to put in cinnamon rolls, etc. This version is a basic sweet bread yeast dough with a cinnamon sugar butter filling and later on, cream cheese frosting.

No One Can Resist These Cinnamon Rolls

I have probably posted about cinnamon rolls quite a few times before, but the thing is, cinnamon rolls are one thing I can make really well. I found a good recipe a while back and now can never make a different version. These are rich, sweet, fluffy, buttery, cinnamony rolls of goodness. No one can resist one hot from the oven, but they are great cold or reheated too. They may even be better after a few days when the cinnamon-sugar-butter mixture has had a chance to soak into the dough. And they are great for breakfast, snack, teatime, dessert, or even lunch!

Cinnabunnies

I made some cinnamon rolls for an Easter brunch this year. Cinnamon rolls are a well-loved, sweet breakfast or brunch treat. Of course, I wanted to have something Easter themed as well, so I shaped the cinnamon rolls into bunny heads. I didn't use my favorite cinnamon roll recipe, because the dough is quite soft to work with and only makes nine rolls. I used my second favorite, one hour, cinnamon roll recipe, which uses a firmer dough. However, pretty much any cinnamon roll recipe could be shaped this way. I sliced the dough into sixteen slices, and chose the eight prettiest slices to use as the bunny heads. Then I unrolled the remaining eight cinnamon rolls and folded them as shown, using a little melted butter to attach it to the bunny head. I then used chocolate chips for the eyes and small red candy-coated chocolates for the nose. Sliced almonds could be added as bunny teeth, if desired. Then I baked them on a cookie sheet as usual. I think they make a cute addition to an Easter brunch. 

Cinnamon Crack

Cinnamon Crack
1 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Drizzle in the butter and mix. Spread mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 425◦F for 10-15 minutes until hardened and crisp. Cool, and break into pieces. 

If you are a fan of cinnamon rolls, you will love this. If you are like me, and much prefer the filling of the cinnamon roll to the dough, loving the very center piece and hating 'doughy' cinnamon rolls that do not have a satisfying dough to filling ratio, you will particularly love this. It tastes just like cinnamon roll filling. Essentially, it is just cinnamon roll filling. I 'invented' this candy recipe when I made cinnamon scrolls (see yesterday's post) that were overfilled, and the filling oozed out. Don't worry, I revised the cinnamon scroll recipe, so that shouldn't happen again - though it wasn't a bad thing. I just ended up with a small batch of cinnamon candy as well!

Cinnamon Scrolls

This is a variation on the tried and true cinnamon roll. Instead of a round, light and fluffy or yeasty roll, this is a flaky, crescent roll style biscuit with the sweet and buttery cinnamon filling, rolled up into a scroll. I find every cinnamon roll recipe differs in terms of texture - the dough is sometimes cake-like, sometimes muffin-like, sometimes biscuit-like, sometimes bread-like. This recipe is definitely a biscuit-like texture, but the filling, like most cinnamon roll fillings, is the same - sweet and chock full of cinnamon!

Cinnamon Scrolls
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt1/2 cup cold cubed butter
1 cup cold milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Stir in the milk to form a soft dough, knead just until it comes together. Roll to a 1/4 inch thick circle. Brush with the melted butter. Stir together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over top. Leave a small border all around. Cut the circle into 16 equal triangular-shaped wedges. Roll up each triangle, starting from the long edge.
Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 425◦F for about 15 minutes until golden.

Revamped Cinnamon Rolls

Remember the cinnamon rolls I have probably posted a few times now? See these posts: Cinnamon Rolls and  Doubled Cinnamon Rolls.Well, I made them again. They are one of the few recipes I will make again and again. But of course, I sometimes feel the need to switch things up a bit. This time, I did not change any of the recipe ingredients aside from using low-fat margarine in place of butter in the topping because I had run out of butter (nobody noticed). The recipe yields nine, large, fluffy, buttery cinnamon rolls that are baked together in an 8x8-inch square pan. This time, I wanted more cinnamon rolls, but did not want to double the recipe or anything. So I simply cut the cinnamon rolls smaller, and ended up with fourteen that were still a perfectly reasonable size. And instead of baking them in a square pan, I baked seven each in two round eight inch pans, which I think looked and worked out better. You can't mess with a good recipe, but you can make some minor adjustments and improvements. 

One Hour Cinnamon Rolls

This is a really quick and easy cinnamon roll recipe. I do have my go-to cinnamon roll recipe, which is so fluffy and sweet, but it does require a little extra time and work. It also makes only nine rolls, and the recipe does not double well. I have used another recipe for biscuits, and added a cinnamon filling, but it isn't as good as the other one. I have not yet tried yeast cinnamon rolls, they just don't look as fluffy and tasty as biscuit rolls. Plus they take longer and require more work, and usually I can't wait that long for cinnamon rolls, I want them soon and I want them hot! That's where this recipe comes in. The time you begin to the time you sit down and eat will be less than one hour. 

One Hour Cinnamon Rolls
DOUGH
2 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil
FILLING
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated (white) sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, very soft or melted

Preheat oven to 375◦F. Line or butter a large round springform or a 9x13 inch rectangular baking pan.
FILLING: In a small bowl, mix the two sugars and cinnamon together. Set aside.
DOUGH: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, milk, and oil. Add to dry ingredients and mix to form a dough. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and roll out to a large rectangle, about 10x16 inches, and at least 1/8 inch thick. There is no need to be precise here. 
Leaving a border all around, at least 1/4 inch, spread the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over top. Roll dough tightly from a long end, and cut into twelve equal rolls (dental floss or thread works wonders for this). Place the rolls, facing up, in the prepared pan. Spread with a little extra melted butter. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Or, you can refrigerate the rolls and bake later to enjoy them hot from the oven!

ICING: I don't think they need them, but if you like your cinnamon rolls iced, you can whip up a simple powdered sugar and milk, or a cream cheese frosting and slather it all over the rolls once they come out of the oven. Let stand a few minutes to set, then dive in!

Cinnamon Roll Swirl Cake

This is an absolutely delicious, sweet, warm cinnamon roll swirl cake, great for breakfast  snack, dessert, or even lunch! The bottom is a moist, rich, buttery white cake recipe. The topping is just like the filling for a cinnamon roll. It is dropped by heaping spoonfuls on top of the batter, and then swirled with it. If you manage to swirl up enough of the batter with it, you can create the appearance of actual cinnamon rolls - no rolling and cutting involved! Actually, this dish basically is cinnamon rolls without all the extra labor. Just mix up the dough, put it in the pan, make the filling, and swirl it on top. Much simpler when you don't have time to make actual cinnamon rolls, and it is just as tasty. The icing is optional, just like some people like iced cinnamon rolls and some don't. I am sure you could substitute a cream cheese or caramel icing for some extra decadence if you wish! If you like cinnamon rolls, this is a must-try!

Cinnamon Roll Swirl Cake
CAKE
3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (skim) milk
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons (pure) vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, not margarine, melted
TOPPING
1/2 cup butter, not margarine, melted
3/4 cup (dark) brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
ICING (OPTIONAL)
1 cup icing (confectioners') sugar
2-3 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line a 9x13 inch rectangular baking pan.
CAKE: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add milk, eggs, and vanilla, mix well. Slowly pour the butter over, then stir to combine. Spread evenly in prepared pan.
TOPPING: Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Drop by spoonfuls onto the batter in the pan. Swirl the topping and the batter together using a butter knife. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the batter comes out clean.
ICING: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and drizzle over the cake while it is still warm.

I cut down slightly on the butter amounts from the original recipe. I still found the dough a bit greasy before I put it in the oven, but once it is baked it seems okay. It certainly did not miss the extra butter though. Real butter is a must for flavor! Pure vanilla is also recommended. The glaze is optional. I made mine without, and it was delicious and sweet; but the icing would add a little extra specialty and sweetness. Add the icing if you plan on serving this for dessert and not breakfast. Just be aware that icings made with milk usually should be stored in the fridge. So leftovers (if there are any) will need to go in the fridge, unless you use water instead. It is convenient that the cake is iced while still warm though. This cake is best served warm, and cuts quite well even straight from the oven. It can also be eaten cold or reheated in the microwave.

Doubled Cinnamon Rolls

This is the usual cinnamon roll recipe I make, the one that my family absolutely loves, and one I think cannot be beat. It is a rich biscuit dough with a cinnamon and brown sugar filling with plenty of melted butter brushed on the rolls. The standard recipe makes only nine cinnamon rolls, and they are all baked together in an 8x8 inch square pan, which keeps them soft and fluffy. Nine cinnamon rolls is not very many, and they certainly do not last long in this house. I have made two consecutive batches of these cinnamon rolls before. I whipped up one batch, put them in the oven, and made up the other batch while they were baking. When the first batch came out, I baked the second batch. However, I found this to be quite time consuming, a lot of work, and a little bit confusing. I decided to try doubling this cinnamon roll recipe, and simply make one double batch of these cinnamon rolls. I figured this would make eighteen cinnamon rolls, and I could bake them all together in a 9x13 inch rectangular pan. Unfortunately, this seemed to pose a few problems. This is a picture of all of the cinnamon rolls together.

I mixed up the dough as I usually do, double checking each ingredient carefully to ensure I had correctly doubled the amount. When I went to knead the dough though, the dough was quite liquidy. I mixed in an additional half cup of flour, and the dough was still quite sticky. I ended up adding quite a bit of extra flour, which I hoped would not affect the texture too much. I was able to knead the dough and roll it out. I decided to divide the dough in half, and roll each half out separately, spread each with half of the filling, roll it up, and cut it. Then repeat with the second half of the dough. The first half went smoothly, but the second half stuck a little bit, which made for some not quite as nicely formed rolls. I also cut each half into more than nine pieces, because I found that cutting it into nine would make the rolls way too large. After this though, the rest went fairly smoothly. All of the rolls fit nicely into a 9x13 inch pan, and they baked perfectly, just as usual. They also came out tasting great - just like they usually do. The only drawback was the look - some of the rolls are not very nicely formed, but they still taste great. This incident proves as a little reminder that not all recipes may be doubled successfully. The same goes with halving a recipe, as I once discovered with my chocolate cake recipe. In particular, candy recipes should never be halved or doubled, only made as is. They do not set properly when each ingredient is just doubled, there is more science to it than that. Like in this cinnamon roll recipe, either more than double the flour was needed, or less than double the liquid was needed. Luckily, this case worked out in the end. This is a picture of the best looking cinnamon rolls of the batch.

Jiffy Cinnamon Rolls

I found this quick, easy recipe for cinnamon rolls in Company's Coming "Muffins And More". I made some with raisins, and some without. The ones without look more neatly formed, but they are both good.These cinnamon rolls are made from a very simple dough that is soft and fluffy and very easy to work with. It is spread with an easy filling, rolled up, cut, and then placed into muffin tins to bake. This gives the cinnamon rolls a nice shape and even baking. Even though I thought I had used plenty of grease in the pan, I still found my cinnamon rolls stuck a bit. The recipe states to place a teaspoon of filling into the bottom of each muffin cup, but after trying this, I would not recommend it. I found that most of this filling just stuck to the bottom of the pan, and did not end up on the cinnamon rolls at all, which both gypped the cinnamon rolls and wasted filling. I would recommend either spreading all of the filling onto the rolled out dough, or using a teaspoon of filling on TOP of each cinnamon roll. Dumping the cinnamon rolls did not work either, they stuck too much, and too much of the filling began to come off. Also, if they are dumped, they end up upside down, because the top does look better than the bottom facing into the cup. I used a spoon to carefully scoop the rolls out. If you do this while the rolls are too warm, the dough will tear apart, so at least cool them slightly if not completely. If you grease the pan very well, not only will the rolls stick less, they will also have a richer, more buttery topping. After you get past the problems of the rolls sticking, they are quite tasty, with or without raisins. There are not quite as good as the cinnamon roll recipe I usually use, but they are quicker, and more of a muffin-like cinnamon roll that is good for breakfast rather than me sweet dessert cinnamon rolls.

Jiffy Cinnamon Rolls
1/3 cup butter or hard margarine, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter or hard margarine, cut-up
1 cup cold milk
1/3 currants or raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 400◦F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin.
In a small bowl, combine the first amount of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Place one measured teaspoon of filling into the bottom of each muffin cup. Set remaining mixture aside.
In a separate large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Make a well in the center and stir in the milk. Knead the dough, adding a little additional flour as necessary, for 6 to 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to a twelve inch long rectangle, approximately one centimetre thick. 
Spread dough with remaining cinnamon mixture, leaving a small border all around. Sprinkle with currants or raisins, if desired. Roll up dough from a long end, jelly roll style. Pinch seams to seal. Cut into twelve slices. Place each slice, cut side down, into a muffin cup. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Turn out onto a tray. Ice with a simple vanilla glaze or a cream cheese icing, if desired. 

Paré, Jean. "Jiffy Cinnamon Rolls." Recipe. Muffins & More, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 1983. 87.

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are one of those indulgent comfort foods. You just cannot (and should not) try to make them healthy, otherwise they aren't true cinnamon rolls anymore. Cinnamon rolls must contain large quantities of sugar and butter, they must be enriched with egg and milk, and of course, they must contain a nice dose of cinnamon. Many cinnamon rolls are also iced, although I don't tend to bother with that. Although cinnamon rolls must be indulgent, I think they are sweet and rich enough without a frosting. Plus, I like to enjoy them straight from the oven, so they don't tend to stick around long enough to be frosted anyway. However, if a cinnamon roll just isn't a cinnamon roll to you without the frosting, a cream cheese frosting or a plain vanilla glaze are both excellent choices. A drizzle of melted chocolate is also a welcome addition!

A certain family member has been asking me to make cinnamon rolls for a while now, but I've been pretty busy lately, so I didn't get the chance until today. I must say, I had quite the hankering for cinnamon rolls myself! I used my usual cinnamon roll recipe, one given to me by my grandmother. I am so glad she did, as I have never tasted a cinnamon roll as good as these. They are made from a simple biscuit dough - no yeast, and no waiting for dough to rise. The dough is soft, fluffy, and very easy to work with and roll up. The filling is the usual cinnamon roll filling: butter, sugar, and cinnamon. The only slight problem with this recipe is the baking time. It's a bit too long, because the smell of the cinnamon rolls cooking starts to drive you crazy before they are done!