These homemade cinnamon rolls are soft and delicious and not as bad for you as you might think, especially if you follow this recipe which will be much healthier than the heavy butter recipes you usually see. If you're on the go these can be a fast and easy breakfast recipe that will hold you over until you get a break for lunch or until you have time to make something for yourself after getting the kids ready for school. Below you will find the ingredients you will need for these moist and fluffy cinnamon rolls.
For The Rolls
1½ cups all purpose flour. Add another ¼ cup after mixing
¼ cup of sugar
1 package of active dry yeast
½ teaspoon of salt
½ cup of 1% milk at 110°
3 tablespoons of canola oil or extra light olive oil.
1 egg
For The Filling
¼ cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
For The Frosting
1 cup of confectioners sugar
¼ teaspoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of milk
Now that you have all your ingredients ready you are ready to begin. Place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt into your mix bowl and turn on your mixer. Just mix these a little bit until all the dry ingredients are mixed together. Check the temperature of your milk to make sure it's 110 degrees so that the yeast can do its work. Pour in the milk and turn your mixer back on. Now add the three tablespoons of oil and then your egg. Mix all of this on high for about three minutes. Once everything is well mixed add the additional ¼ cup of flower. Lower the speed on the mixer and let it run for about 20 seconds or so. This last bit of flour does not need to be mixed in as well.
Now it's time to knead the dough. Get a cooking board out and lightly cover it with flour. Knead the dough for three to five minutes or about 150 turns. Sprinkle more flour on the surface if you need to. You might also want to have a scraper or metal spatula handy to help move the dough around. Cover the dough and let it rest while you get your filling ready. Ten minutes should be enough time.
Grease an 8-10 inch round pan with butter. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together with a fork. Your dough will still be rising when you are done with this step. If you want you can go ahead and start making the frosting or you can wait until you are done cooking the rolls. I prefer to wait as the heat of the rolls helps spread the frosting more evenly.
Roll out your dough on the board with a rolling pin. Once you get a nice flat piece of dough smear two tablespoons of butter on it. Make sure you get it over the entire surface. Dump the filling on the dough and use your hand or a spatula to gently distribute the powder. Now roll it up starting at the narrow end and keep the roll loose. Cut off the ends as these have no filling in them and nobody wants to get a mouthful of bread with no sweet stuff when they are eating a cinnamon roll. You should be able to cut up about 8 rolls. Place them in your pan and cover it tightly with plastic and let them set in a warm place while they continue to rise. This and take up to and hour and a half but sometimes more. You will know when they are ready to cook when they are near the top of the pan. Make sure there is still an inch or so left for them to rise in the oven as they can burn easy if they are overflowing when you place them in the stove. Preheat your oven at 350 and let them cook on the center or top rack for fifteen minutes and your all done with everything but the icing.
Now that they are done baking your rolls will already look and smell good enough to eat but adding the frosting will make them irresistible. They will need ten minutes to rest before you can apply the frosting. The frosting is very simple for this recipe but many people like to make their own as the topping is what really completed the taste for cinnamon rolls. If you want to go with this recipe you will need to mix the confectioners sugar and vanilla together. The milk should be added slowly as the mixture will become creamy very fast. If you put in too much milk too fast you could ruin the frosting so take your time here. After your rolls are cooled down enough you can add the frosting. You might want to wait a few more minutes before you eat them.
These bad boys are now ready to eat. Remember that these are much lower in transitional fats than most sweet roll recipes so don't be afraid to eat two or three of them. I know I can eat at least that many when I see these sitting on the counter when I wake up in the morning. They are perfect with a cup of coffee or a cappuccino. Now try this fast and easy breakfast recipe at home and you'll be glad you did.
