Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Harvest Cinnamon Rolls

I have finally attempted to make a homemade cinnamon roll, and I have succeeded! Over the weekend, I tried the recipe on this site:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/CinnamonRollsFantastic.htm

What's great about these is that they can be mixed in a bread machine, mixer, or food processor, and there are clear, detailed directions and pictures to help you along.

I used my stand mixer this time, because I didn't know if 5 cups of flour would fit properly in my bread machine--I've never seen any recipes for the machine that were more than 3 cups. Anyway, it worked fine in my mixer and I was finally able to use my dough hook attachment, though the dough climbed up the hook quite a bit during kneading.

If you try these, they make 15 rolls. If you're really careful in rolling out the dough evenly, the rolls will be more uniform in size. I ended up with 2 really small ones on the ends :) I made them up at night, then put 8 of them in a cake pan in the fridge. They will slowly rise overnight in there, so all you should have to do is take them out and bake them the next morning. I froze the rest of the batch. When you freeze, you have to take them out to thaw and rise for 10-12 hours before you bake them--again, good for doing the night before.

The only things I would change: I thought I would save some time and bought a pre-made cream-cheese cake frosting to go on them--it just did not taste well with the rolls. Too much hydrogenated fat or something. I will definitely use the suggested icing recipe for my next batch. Also, I think I would use a salted butter for spreading on the rolled-out dough (NOT for the actual dough--always use UNsalted butter in your baking). I think the salted butter for the filling would add more flavor.

Otherwise, these rolls were big, soft, and delicious. I used Saigon cinnamon, per "Maggie's" advice--very strong cinnamon there. I might lessen that just a bit next time. Try these though, and tell me if you like them!

**Another tip--use the vital wheat gluten she recommends in the recipe. It makes for a more flexible dough. You can find it in most groceries (I found it in wal-Mart) in the baking section. A little box is only a dollar and some change. You can add it to all your bread recipes for better texture. I tried it the other day with some white bread in my bread machine and it was the best texture I've gotten yet.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can put five cups into the bread maker if it will hold the large loaves...it will handle the first raise fine. It would not be able to accommodate a second rise and bake with that much flour, however.

Just for the "dough" cycle, mine handled it fine and did not reach more than about 3/4 of the way up the cannister.

The recipe I used called for a good mix of sugar and cinnamon, and the cinnamon would probably be too strong, except that the cream cheese I use is also a strong flavor, so they sort of counter balance one another.

I use margarine in all mine as a substitute for butter and have had fine results, though I know there is the trans fat issue. Just a change I've not yet made as a whole for baking.

Mysti said...

Thanks for the tips. I might try the bread maker next time. I did enjoy using my dough hook for the first time on my mixer though :) That mixer is my best friend in the kitchen!

I use butter mainly because of the trans fats issue and the flavor. Also, the unsalted butter I use because the recipe already calls for salt, so I'm not adding any extra. I do like to use butter-flavored shortening in most of my cookies though (they have some non-trans fat ones now, but if you're eating cookies--who cares) because I think it makes for poofier cookies.

Anonymous said...

you can send me some of your "poofy" peanut butter cookies if you would like.........I won't mind :) really...........i won't :)
Those cookies are just so good.