MY CINNAMON ROLLS
My dish was cinnamon rolls, easily one of the most delicious bread-like desserts in the world. I made this because I had never made a dessert before, although I did have experience with homemade pizza dough. I’d never handled a sweet brioche dough, so it really intrigued me, and most of all, it looked really fun to make.
In the end, the buns turned out absolutely gorgeous. Nicely browned, fluffy, sweet and buttery, but I didn’t like the icing much at all. It was a cream cheese icing instead of a plain powdered sugar icing, and I felt it was a bit too sour/cheesy/acidic and it wasn’t sweet enough to really make the bun itself shine.When I make this again, I’ll for sure change the icing to a more sweet one. It was definitely worth it though. Even though the icing wasn’t great, it was still delicious, because after all, it’s a cinnamon roll for gods sake!
This was my first time making a brioche dough, and wow, it was way stickier and harder to handle compared to the pizza dough. This was definitely due to the enrichment process through the eggs, butter and the milk that the yeast bloomed in. Also, the filling surprised me. I’d seen multiple videos and all of them had a dry filling that looked almost like a streusel, but this was very smooth and creamy, definitely due to the extremely softened butter, which no other recipe used.
Servings: 12
INGREDIENTS
Dough
2 cups whole milk, warm to the touch
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Filling
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
My Frosting (Makes 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of frosting)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 cup of milk or water
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the warm milk, sugar, and melted butter. The mixture should be just warm, registering between 100-110˚F (37-43˚C). If any warmer, allow to cool slightly.
Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the milk mixture, stir, and let sit in a warm place for about 10 minutes until the yeast has bloomed.
Add 4 cups of flour to the milk mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until nearly doubled in size.
Generously butter 2 9-inch round baking pans and set aside.
Make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Mix well, then set aside.
Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and add the remaining cup of flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir well, then turn out onto a clean surface. Leave a bit of flour nearby to use as needed, but try not to incorporate too much.
Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, until the dough just loses its stickiness and does not stick to the surface or your hands. The dough should be very smooth and spring back when poked.
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about ½-inch (1 cm) thick. Fix the corners with a bench scraper or a spatula to make sure they are sharp and even.
Spread the filling evenly over the dough.
Starting from one short end, roll up the dough into a log and pinch the seam closed. Place seam-side down. Trim any uneven ends.
Using unflavored dental floss (As to not pinch the edges which will inhibit rise), cut the log into evenly pieces, about 1½ inches (8cm) thick. Place the cinnamon rolls in the prepared pans, 1 in the center and about 5 around the sides. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 35-45 minutes, until expanded by about half of their original volume.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C).
Bake the cinnamon rolls for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
While the cinnamon rolls are baking, make the frosting: In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and whisk until homogenous and runny.
When the cinnamon rolls are cooked, let cool for about 10 minutes.
Drizzle the frosting over the cinnamon rolls and Enjoy!
Credit to Tasty for the cinnamon roll recipe
Recipe: https://tasty.co/article/hannahloewentheil/cinnamon-rolls-from-scratch-recipe-tips
Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q0FYoCl4Cs
Credit to Culinaryhill for the icing recipe I would use
Recipe: https://www.culinaryhill.com/powdered-sugar-icing/