Rollin’ and tumblin’
I’m a planner, I admit it. I like to write lists, think about the future and concoct ways to be more organized, live a lusher life, or just have more time to do what I want. I think its hard to admit that I don’t control absolutely everything in my realm. But of course I don’t and all it takes is a minor illness like the flu to demonstrate that truth. I’m not one to make resolutions…those grand gestures 
lend themselves to disappointment and failure…at least that’s been my experience. I do like to give each year a theme; 2007 was my “I am what I am” year (aka The Popeye year) where I worked to discover the authentic me. Does that sound crazy? What it really means is I worked hard to find my voice as a writer and my path as a person…I spent some time thinking about who I want to be and what I need to do to get there. I made some progress and I think it was a satisfying year.
2008 will be the year I make myself uncomfortable. I’m going to attempt to learn some French over the next three months. French makes me incredibly uncomfortable…so many words, spoken so quickly, and they all mean something! Maybe I can learn enough to make our travel more enjoyable. No we’re not going to Canada, we’re heading to Paris for 8 days in March.
I want to leave my comfort zone in the kitchen too. To that end I’ll be cooking one new recipe each week. You might think that isn’t so difficult, but wait, there’s more: I have to follow the recipe exactly…no off-the-cuff adaptations, no substitutions of ingredients, no bastardization of technique…no, no, no!!! I do that all the time, I need to practice following instructions.
Besides, if I can adapt, substitute, or bastardize a recipe it just isn’t challenging enough, and I want challenge. This thought was brought home by these cinnamon rolls. I didn’t even need a recipe because bread is no longer challenging…at least not this bread. These cinnamon rolls are just a richer, sweeter version of my sunday dinner rolls. But trust me on this, if you are not a proficient baker you’ll enjoy this recipe for it’s simplicity. If you are a proficient baker you can enjoy it for it’s mindless ease. Either way the results are consistently good.
Cinnamon Rolls
–printer-friendly version–
3 teaspoons yeast
½ cup butter, unsalted, melted
1 ½ cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 to 4 additional cups of flour
4 tablespoons melted butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
Put the yeast, ½ cup of melted butter, the 1 ½ cups milk, eggs, ¼ cup sugar, and 2 cups flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix it on medium high for 3 minutes.
Add flour, 1 cup at a time while the mixer works on speed 3 or 4. Once the dough begins to come together switch out the paddle attachment for the bread hook. Continue to add flour about ¼ cup a time with the mixer on speed 2.
Once the dough totally clears the sides of the bowl stop adding flour and let the machine work the dough on speed 2 for 3 or 4 minutes. Stop the mixer and feel the dough. It shouldn’t stick to your fingers, if it does add more flour. If it’s too dry add more milk or water. Continue to let the mixer work the dough until it is smooth and elastic in texture.
Put the dough in a buttered bowl and let it rise in the refrigerator until doubled in bulk. Punch it down gently and let it rest a few minutes. Divide it into two equally sized pieces. Roll each out until they are about 15 inches square in area.
Brush each sheet of dough with melted butter. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly across the dough square. Roll the dough into a tube and pinch the edges to seal them to the tube. Cut the tube into even rounds, about 1 “ to 1 1/4” in width will give you about 12 to 15 rolls per dough sheet. Butter a round cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment. Arrange the rolls in each pan, let them rise for 30 to 60 minutes depending on the ambient temperature. Bake at 375 ° F for 25 to 30 minutes or 350° F convection bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for a bit, remove from pan and top with a simple icing made from sifted powder sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk.
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8 Responses to “Rollin’ and tumblin’”
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Following recipes more closely is also one of my New Years’s resolutions. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for baking though. Those cinnamon rolls look delicious - I’m a massive fan of sweet cinnamon things.
Happy New Year to you Vanessa, Dave, Dexter and Alex.
My 2008 food goal is to (successfully) make sticky pecan cinnamon rolls…thanks for the inspiration!
Oh yeah–gotta try making these pretty soon!
Happy 2008!
how exciting! good luck with the french im sure you can do it! i have been attempting to teach myself too. i’ve heard good things about the pimsleur programs which are quite expensive, but i found them at my local library. delicious-looking rolls too!
Bonne chance avec le francais! Ca vaut! (Good luck w the french. It’s worth it!)
I like the way you give your years themes. Good luck with your french lesson and happy new year! Oh, and delicious-looking cinnamon rolls.
Ros, I’m glad there’s someone else with such a wacky goal. Happy new year to you and goon as well!
JEP, let me know how they turn out, Happy new year.
MadLisa, you’ll love them
Sara, I’m trying mangolanguages.com, it seems very user friendly and it’s free. Thanks for the comment.
Bipolarlawyercook, yikes learning a language is hard. Thanks for the encouragement.
Hillary, thanks for the comment…Happy new year.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I can see that you are a talented writer and cook. You have a great “voice”. Good luck with the French. It’s a beautiful language (I was really good at it in high school). For me, I should like to learn Japanese or Chinese. The Asian cultures fascinate me.
Best wishes on a challenging new year!
Kat