Cinnamon Rolls

I am back after a long break. I would keep on disappearing here and there, depending upon how my little man behaves and cooperates. Well, this time my absence had little to do with him. This time it was the virus attack. Yes the viral fever took each of us down one by one. Ufff, I don't even wanna think about those days and I wish it does not repeat here nor to anyone out there.

The last time I logged into blogger was about a month ago, to write this post and then we fell ill and by the time we got better, it was time for my parents to leave. No doubt, I miss them. At the same time, Jordan also is missing them. Because he gets to see only two people always welcoming him after he gets up from sleep or may be to play with him. Well, we have to live with it now. We are trying our best to get back to a normal schedule now.

Meanwhile, I am still surviving on the drafts. You might be wondering if I was stocking up drafts. Well, that is one advantage of procrastinating things ...he he...Anyways, here is one another post that was pending for so long - Cinnamon Rolls. Love it. Hope you too would love it.

Ingredients

For the dough

1. 4 1/2 - 5cups of all purpose flour
2. 1/4 ounce of active dry yeast
3. 1 cup of milk
4. 1/3 cup of unsalted butter
5. 1/3 cup of granulated white sugar
6. 1/2 tsp of salt
7. 3 large eggs

For the filling

1. 3/4 cup of packed light brown sugar
2. 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
3. 3/4 tbsp of cinnamon powder
4. 1/2 cup of unsalted butter cut into small pieces
5. 1/2 cup of raisins
6. 1 tbsp of milk

For the glaze

1. 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
2. 1-2 tbsp of  milk

Method

Making of the dough

• In a large bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour and yeast.
• In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter, sugar and salt just untill warm, while you stir continuously. By this time, the butter would have melted down.
• Gradually pour in the milk mixture into the bowl of flour and yeast. Beat it well. Now add the eggs one after the other and beat it on high speed.
• Add the remaining flour little by little and mix it well. Knead it into a smooth, elastic and non sticky ball of dough.
• Grease the bowl, and place the dough in it covered in a warm place for it to rise and double in size. It would take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.
• Once risen, punch it down and let it rest for another 10 minutes.

Making of the filling

• In a bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon powder.
• Add the butter to this mixture and mix it , till you get a crumbly mixture.

Making of the glaze

•  Mix the powdered sugar and milk to form a lump free paste of the consistency that could be drizzled over the hot cinnamon rolls

Assembly and baking of the cinnamon roll

• Roll out the dough into a 12 inch square.
• Sprinkle the rolled out dough with cinnamon filling and raisins. 
• On one edge of the rolled out dough, brush with milk. Starting at the edge, opposite to the one that you brushed with milk, form a log. Secure the open edge (brushed with milk) by pinching it lightly into the dough.
• Slice the dough into 8 equal size pieces.
• Arrange the rolls into a greased baking pan, leaving room between each roll to rise at room temperature untill they double in size.
• Brush the rolls with milk and bake at 375 F for about 25-30 minutes or till it is light brown in color and a toothpick inserted would come out clean.
• Remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes before you remove it onto a wired rack. 
• Drizzle it with some glaze and serve it warm.

Tips

1. You could cling wrap the rolls once they have doubled in size after placing it on the baking sheet and refrigerate it overnight. You could then bake it the next day.
2. You could cover the rolls with aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning of the rolls.

Recipe courtesy : Joy of Baking