Quick Cinnamon Buns

This Cini-bun, recipe from Sweet and Sugar Bean, is really simple and easy. They took 20 mins to make and under 20 mins to bake. And there's something about rolling cinnamon in dough that makes me happy. Plus the smell takes over the whole house and makes everyone else happy.

The only thing I changed from the original recipe is I used all butter instead of part butter, part shortening, and I put a tablespoon of cocoa in the filling.

Ingredients:

DOUGH:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
i 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FILLING:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Method:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Grease a 8x8-inch square baking pan with butter and set aside.

In a small bowl, make the filling by mixing together sugars, spices, cocoa, salt, and melted butter. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. (Add butter and beat until butter is cut into tiny bits and incorporates with the flour some. About 1 minute or so). In another bowl, combine egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat lightly with a fork. Add the liquid to flour mixture all at once, let the mixer go until the dough has just come together, just a few seconds.

Turn out onto a floured board and pull the dough together and flatten into a disk for rolling. If the butter has warmed too much in the making of the dough, shape the batter into a dish, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes. If the butter is still cool, shape the dough into a disk and, on a well floured surface, roll dough to a little less than 1/2-inch thickness. My dough was about 12-inches long and 10-inches tall. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar filling. At this point I sprinkled it liberally with extra cinnamon. Begin to carefully roll one vertical side into a fairly tight roll. Continue rolling until you have a biscuit cylinder. Using a sharp, floured knife, slice into log, about 1-inch thick. Place rolls, in prepared pan. Brush the tops with a little extra melted butter and bake for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Cinnamon Rolls

Mole and I made no-yeaste cinnamon roles today and talked about life. I love it when my friends hang out with me and help me bake. It's kind of my favorite thing- hanging out in the kitchen with someone fun, listening to music, singing, gabbing, baking.

I found this recipe on Recipe Girl and loved it right away. It's really not that complicated, you just need a little patience and a rolling pin. My dough stuck to the wax paper that I was rolling it out on (even though I spread flour on it first) so I had to tease it off the paper to roll it up in a log for cutting. Next time I'm just going to make sure I have a lot of flour down before I start rolling.

Ingredients:

Filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Dough:
2 cups bread or all-purpose flour, + more for rolling
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
pinch of salt

Pastry Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk (or more depending on how drippy you want your icing)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray and put a pea-sized piece of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar in the bottom of each cup.

2. Prepare the filling: In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients with a fork until a crumbly mixture is formed.

3. Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and salt. Use clean hands (or a pastry blender) to work the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the milk and the egg and stir to combine.

4. Roll the dough out on a floured surface into roughly shaped large rectangle (about 1/4-inch thick). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all the way around. Carefully roll up the rectangle starting with long end (the dough will be soft). Use a sharp knife to cut 12 rolls. If you want smaller rolls, cut them a little smaller and you'll get 18. Carefully place the rolls in the prepared muffin tin.

5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. While the cinnamon rolls are baking, prepare the glaze: Combine the sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk with a spatula. If you want your glaze thinner add a splash more milk. Drizzle the glaze on top of warm rolls and the icing will harden quickly. Try one when it's warm!!

It smells like Ikea in here.