Cinnamon Caramel Pinwheels

Mmmmmm. I'm home for Thanksgiving! With everyone home and an amazingly well stocked kitchen and a post-college wind-down cold Ugh. I've basically lost my voice, but I can still bake as long as I wash my hands all the time. And no coughing or sneezing.

But listen up, y'all, 'cause these pinwheels are poppin'. A thick, buttery, brown sugar caramel sauce envelops the bottom (and later becomes the top) of a pan of light, fluffy, quick-baking, biscuit-dough cinnamon rolls. No separate glaze to make, just melt it together in the microwave and dump in the pan before the rolls go in.

This is the only picture of the finished rolls that I could, with a good conscience, show you. The others look like a pile of brains.

There are a lot of ingredients in this recipe that you might not keep in stock. Buttermilk, sour cream, and cake flour. Luckily, these are easily substituted for and the results were great. I used greek yogurt for the sour cream (not for health--there's so much butter in these it wouldn't make much of a difference--but because it's what we had). One Fage is a cup, which is exactly what this recipe calls for!
I also used some milk and a squeeze of lemon juice for the buttermilk, and flour with a teaspoon of corn starch for the cake flour.

Soft soft dough with warm, chewy caramel soaked in. Sweet sticky rolls for a decadent breakfast!

Cinnamon Caramel Pinwheels
yield: 9 rolls

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 cups minus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour 
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup buttermilk (or just shy of a 1/4 cup milk plus a squeeze of lemon juice)

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (you could probably use more, they weren't that strong with this amount)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degress and put a rack in the middle. Make a parchment paper round to fit in the bottom of a circular cake pan, then grease the whole thing with spray. 
2.  Put honey, butter, and brown sugar in a microwaveable bowl or measuring cup and microwave until melted and easy to stir. Stir to combine, pour this glaze in bottom of prepared pan. Rinse this bowl (we'll use it soon).
3.  Sift together flour, cornstarch, 1 tbsp sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (Note: kosher salt is much less dense than table salt, so use less than the recommended 1/2 tsp if using normal table salt!). In the same bowl in which you stirred together the glaze, mix 6 tbsp melted butter, the sour cream or yogurt, and the buttermilk or substitution. 
4.  Put half of the flour mixture aside in an extra bowl, then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix gently to combine. Then, add in the remaining flour mixture, and mix (hands help here) to form a shaggy dough. Dump out on a clean counter and knead a few times until it comes together.
5.  In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Press the dough out approximately into a 12x9" rectangle and brush with the 1 tbsp melted butter, leaving 1 inch on one of the long edges for sealing the dough. Sprinkle the butter completely with cinnamon sugar and roll up the dough, starting at the edge that doesn't have the 1 inch margin. Roll as tight as possible, and seal by pinching the dough together at the end. 
6.  Cut dough into 9 pieces (about equal) and lay in pan with two rolls in the middle and seven rolls around the perimeter. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. Let rest 5 minutes, then flip onto a serving plate and remove the parchment. Serve warm!

Recipe from Fast Breads, via Serious Eats.

Cinnamon Rolls

There's really nothing like fresh cinnamon rolls and a yuletide log with dozens of family members gathered round the pine tree sipping hot tea and exchanging memories peacefully.

Wait, that's not how Christmas works at everyone's house? Sorry, I must have gotten mixed up.

We had a nice small Christmas, just my immediate family. It didn't really start until 11 or so, when my sleepyhead brother woke up, but luckily that gave time for the cinnamon rolls to proof (that's when they do their last rise before being baked, and I used a pan of boiling water in the oven to make a nice sauna for the rolls).

People always say that working with yeast is not as hard as you think it is. 

They're right. They told me so. You could let them tell you so, too, because it's worth the results.

It's just a lot of waiting. I guess when people wait, they worry, so it gives yeast a bad reputation.

Make some cream cheese frosting while you wait/worry. This stuff is seriously good.

Cinnamon Rolls

From Baking Illustrated (THE authority on baking...it's awesome)

Dough

1/2 cup milk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup warm water (~110 degrees)

1 envelope (2 1/4 tablespoons) instant/rapid-rise yeast

1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar

1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4-4 1/4 cups (20-21 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1. Heat butter and milk in a saucepan or the microwave until butter melts. Remove and set aside to cool to lukewarm (~100 degrees).
2. In a standing mixer, use the paddle to mix together the water, yeast, sugar, egg, and yolks at low speed until well mixed. I would suggest pre-"scrambling" the eggs in a bowl before adding them because low speed can't really do that for you.
3. Add the salt, warm milk mixture and 2 cups of the flour and mix at medium speed until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute.
4. Switch to the dough hook, add another 2 cups of flour, and knead at medium speed (adding up to 1/4 cup more flour if necessary, a tablespoon at a time) until the dough is smooth and freely clears the sides of the bowl, ~10 minutes. Hang on to your mixer...mine nearly ran itself off the counter!
5. Scrape the dough onto a well floured surface, form into a round, place in a lightly oiled large bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise until doubled in bulk for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Frosting (make while you wait for the dough to rise for the first time if you're making everything in one day)

8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons corn syrup

2 tablespoons cream (I used milk because we didn't have cream and it still worked just fine)

1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch salt

1. Mix it all together in the mixer on low (so you don't inhale too much powdered sugar), gradually increasing to high so it becomes creamy and smooth.
2. It's okay to have a spoonful. There will be plenty for the rolls :)
3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Filling

3/4 cup packed (5 1/4 ounces) light brown sugar

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Once dough has doubled, punch it down and transfer to a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll to a 16 by 12 inch rectangle (approximately).
2. Mix together the filling ingredients and sprinkle all over the rectangle, leaving a half inch margin at the far end to seal the log.
3. Roll the dough, starting near you, tightly and gently. When you get to the top, moisten the margin with water and pinch it to seal the roll. Fiddle with the ends to try to straighten them out if you like.
4. Grease a 13 by 9 inch baking dish (I like butter best). Using unflavored dental floss or other plasticky thin string (or a sharp knife), cut the roll into 12 equal pieces: first in half, then each half in half again, then each piece in thirds. 
5. Arrange in the pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until doubled in size.

OR

     5.  Arrange in the pan, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight (these will rise in the 

          refrigerator)

OR

     5.  Arrange in the pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze. When you want to bake them, let them thaw 

          and then do rise.

To speed the rise, you can put the pan in the oven with a pan of boiling water and close the door, creating a proofing box. Keep an eye on the rolls, they'll be done in ~45 minutes (this is what I did after freezing for a day).

     6.  To bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they register 

          185 to 188 degrees. Remove to a cooling rack, let cool for 10 minutes, frost and serve!

Hypnotizing...

From Baking Illustrated.