When it comes to cinnamon buns there seems to be a divide between those who prefer sticky buns - baked upside down in a sugar crust - and cinnamon rolls - soft with a swirl of cinnamon inside and a white glaze on top. But it doesn't have to be so...
Here's a recipe for sweet, spicy, decadent cinnamon rolls that can satisfy those who want a crunchy sugar glaze on the bottom and creamy icing on top. All it takes (all it ever takes, really) is a little extra butter and a little extra sugar. These are not a breakfast for those on a diet; these are not to be made every weekend. But when you're making cinnamon rolls, in our opinion it's best to go all out. This is that recipe.
The spices are what make these special. If you use fresh spices you'll get something just a little different from the standard cinnamon bun - it's worth it.
Spicy Sticky Cinnamon Rolls
about 1 1/2 dozen
1 package (0.25 oz.) yeast
1 1/4 cup milk, warmed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour
4 small cinnamon sticks
1 star anise pod
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened until runny
In a large bowl sprinkle the yeast over the warmed milk and let sit until slightly bubbly. Beat in the sugar, salt, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the flour. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and warm - about 15 minutes. Spray another large bowl with vegetable oil, shape the dough into a ball and place in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled - about two hours. On a floured surface roll into a large rectangle.
Grind the spices until fine in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and mix with the brown sugar. When the dough is rolled out, slather it thickly with the butter, then with a thick layer of the spiced sugar. Roll up along the long side and cut into individual rolls. Place in a parchment-lined pan and let proof until doubled again - about 45 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350ºF. Bake for about 20 minutes.
For icing:
1/2 package cream cheese, very soft
1/2 cup milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar to taste - start with a cup
Beat all ingredients together, adding more powdered sugar as necessary to get the consistency you prefer. Drip over hot rolls with a fork.
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makes me want to leave work right now and go home and bake.
My mom is visiting at the moment and she loves to eat cinnamon rolls more than anything (apart from lamingtons)! I think I'll whip up a batch of these for her this weekend. Growing up, we made "cinnamon rolls" every Friday night. "Cinnamon rolls" in this case means the Pillsbury kind from the tube. Tasty, but not nearly as delicious-looking as these. They look scrumptious! I can't wait to get baking!
if the weather wasn't going to be so nice this weekend, I would definitely be baking these up. re-post during the May cold front please!
I want to try these but am intimidated by anything using yeast.
I found the directions were not explicit enough for me to attempt. It did not give the dimensions to which the dough should be rolled out, it did not provide for how many rolls you should slice out of the long roll, and it did not indicate the size of pan in which you should bake these. If anyone can provide this for me, I would LOVE to try. They sound like what cinnamon buns SHOULD be.
I am trying this now
Hi there, I'm just in the middle of making these. Started last night and after rolling them and slicing them up I put them in the fridge so that I could take them out and bake them for brunch this morning (they are on the counter top now coming to room temp). I also found this recipe slightly vague and a little difficult to follow. I feel like it's a bit trial and error the first time you do it. Hopefully they are going to be amazing!!!
Things that I found a little confusing were:
a) How warm does the milk have to be when you add the yeast?
b) My yeast didn't make the milk bubbly, is that a problem?
c) Is the order that you add the dough ingredients important and do you have to beat the eggs first?
d) When you roll out the dough, how thick or thin should it be?
I had a look at a couple of other recipes that were fairly similar - I thought this one was good:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/CinnamonRollsFantastic.htm
and it helped me with some of the smaller details.
Thanks - these are going to be amazing at brunch!!!!
I just made these today, and they are absolutely delicious. However, I would note the following:
First, it was very difficult to incorporate the softened butter to the milk mixture. In the future, I would recommend completely melting (and then slightly cooling) the butter before adding it to the milk mixture.
Second, 15 minutes seemed to be a bit long for kneading the dough; mine seemed to be the right consistency (very soft and smooth) after less than 10 minutes.
Third, I think it would work better to cream the brown sugar and spices into softened butter and then spread that on the dough--I found that a lot of butter leaked out the bottom of the rolls as they were rising.
Finally, I ended up needing to bake them for closer to 40 minutes--these are some HUGE rolls and after 20 minutes, mine were still doughy in the middle (although this might also be partly due to the pan I used).
Overall, however, these are terrific--the flavor and texture is excellent and the dough was really nice to work with. I will definitely be making these again!