Spicy Cinnamon Rolls

We all know you can buy cinnamon rolls and sometimes they’re really yummy, but the homemade version with the spirals of pastry and spice is so much better.  Cinnamon roll lovers all around the world drool just thinking about them. 

Picture in your mind Easter morning before whatever your event of the day may be; be it church, an Easter egg hunt or a great dinner with the family, and smelling the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls wafting from the oven at the start of your day.  Then you open the oven door, pull out the cinnamon rolls and sit down to enjoy one with a cup of coffee or tea.  

These cinnamon rolls are excellent and easy to make.  This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Amy Scattergood which was in the Chicago Tribune.  Combine the makings for the dough, let it rise, roll it, fill it with the spicy filling and let the dough rise again. Then finish by baking them for 20 minutes, apply a little icing and you’re done. 

This dough is a basic sweet bread dough with cinnamon added to it.  I’ve never added cinnamon directly to the dough before but it not only tastes great, the cinnamon supposedly enhances yeast activity.  The dough can be mixed by hand or to make it easier, use a mixer fitted with a dough hook, place it in the buttered bowl and after rising, they’re ready to bake.

And you’re rrready to rrroll with a great sweet start to your day!

Spicy Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Zest of 1 orange

2 eggs, at room temperature

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour, plus extra as needed

¼ cup sugar

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons plus ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

2¼ teaspoons kosher salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, softened, cut into cubes, plus 6 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup raisins, optional

2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

¼ cup milk

Method:

Whisk buttermilk, orange zest, and eggs in small bowl.  Set aside.

Place 4 cups the flour, sugar, yeast, baking soda, ¼ teaspoon of the cinnamon, 1 ¼ salt and 6 tablespoons of the softened butter in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Pour in buttermilk mixture, mix on low until the mixture comes together, about 1 minute.

Increase speed to medium, continue to mix until dough is soft and smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes, adding a little flour if the dough is too wet (up to ¼ cup).

Scrape the dough from the bowl, form into a ball.

Place dough in large buttered bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap, set aside in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling.

Sift brown sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons cinnamon, remaining 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt, remaining 1 tablespoon of flour and raisins together in a bowl. 

Turn dough onto well floured surface.

Roll into ¼” thick rectangle, about 17 by 12 inches.

Brush dough with 4 tablespoons of the melted butter.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and raisin mixture, keeping 1 inch clear along one of the long edges.

Loosely roll the dough into a long tube, pressing the clear edge to seal the tube.  Place the tube seam-side down on a cutting board.

Cut the tube crosswise into 12 rolls.

Place the rolls, ½” apart and spiral side up, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap, set aside until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake rolls until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove from the tray, cool on parchment paper.

For the icing:

Whisk confectioner’s sugar, orange juice, milk, remaining 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and a pinch of salt in a bowl.

The consistency should be like very thick syrup; add additional milk or sugar as needed.

Dip a whisk into the icing.

Drizzle icing over the rolls.

Enjoy!!

Ummm, cinnamon rolls:  ambrosia for your morning!  Yum!!!