Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 cup (250ml) warm milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (80g) butter melted
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
For the Filling:
- 1/2 cup butter almost melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup double cream (for pouring over the risen rolls)
- Pour the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast overtop.
- Add the eggs, butter, salt and sugar.
- Add the flour and mix using the beater blade just until the ingredients are barely combined. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes so the flour has time to soak up the liquids.
- Scrape the dough off the beater blade and remove it. Attach the dough hook.
- Beat the dough on medium speed for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. The dough will be tacky and will still be sticking to the sides of the bowl. That's ok! Don't be tempted to add more flour at this point.
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray.
- Use a rubber spatula to remove the dough from the mixer bowl and place it in the greased large bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or wax paper.
- Set the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until double. It normally takes about 30-60 minutes for the dough to rise. Do not allow the dough to rise too much or your cinnamon rolls will be airy.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the cinnamon filling. In a medium bowl, combine the soft butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing until well combined. Set aside.
- Sprinkle a side generously with flour. Turn out the dough and sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour.
- Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough to about a 12x15" rectangle.
- Use a rubber spatula to smooth the cinnamon filling over the whole dough rectangle. I warmed it in the microwave a little to make it runnier
- Starting on the long end, roll the dough up tightly jelly roll style.
- Cut into 12 slices and place in a greased 9x13 baking pan. I lined mine with greaseproof paper as it is easier to lift the rolls out once cooked
- Cover the pan and allow the rolls to rise for 20-30 minutes or until nearly double. They should be touching each other
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
- Warm the double cream until the chill is off. Don't make it hot...you just don't want it cold. It should be warm to the touch.
- Once the rolls have risen, pour the double cream over the top of the rolls, allowing it to soak down in and around the rolls.
- Bake at 190 degrees for 17-19 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown and the center rolls are cooked through.
- Remove from the tin once they have cooled a little and put on a cooling rack - greaseproof paper makes this a lot easier as you will have toffee type leakage you want to keep on the rolls until it cools and solidifies
- i glazed with a mix of icing sugar and water once the rolls had cooled
Method
this is a bit different for me, as I normally try to steer clear of excessively sweet things - for self-preservation rather than anything else. However it is early February, which is the bleakest month in England although today the sun was shining and there was residual snow on the ground. I took the New Dog for a walk and during it came over all yearny for a cinammon roll. This is not something I habitually eat, but the Middle Girl had mentioned them to me the other day (there is a Cinabon in town) and it must have planted the seed.
anyway I came home and stared searching on Mr Google for recipes. As you might expect they are almost all American which means the measures are in cups. I have cup measures and so I used them, but they strike me as intrinsically unsatisfactory way of specifying ingredients - does the flour need to be all the way to the top of the measure (my measures have spouts so make this very ambiguous. So in time I will try to translate this into proper metrics, but for ease I present it here as I found it. incidentally, I chose this recipe because it claimed to have a "magic ingredient" which transforms the texture of the rolls. That ingredient is double cream, poured over them immediately before cooking. And I must confess the rolls were the most luscious tasting and softest fluffiest mouth feel that I have had. So it might be a good tip, and one to think about when making Chelsea Buns...
Anyway, when you are at a loose end one winter afternoon, I recommend trying these I dont think you will be disappointed. this makes 12 - so unless you have a larger family it might be worth doing half as well, cos they are very filling! Incidentally the original recipe had one of those cream cheese based frostings on, which I dont like so I just mixed some icing sugar and water and glazed with that.