Cinnamon Rolls

I've been cooking all day - I'll release my recipe for coconut chicken curry pretty soon but not yet. I think I'll stick to my baking for now (even though my coconut recipes are pretty famous, though I don't actually like coconut at all ironically). Do I like cinnamon rolls? No, I don't really like cinnamon. But I do like Cinnamoroll. If you don't know who or what that is, then check this out below.

Anyways, today I spent some time making some cinnamon rolls. Here's the recipe...

Again, all dairy products can be substituted for dairy free alternatives and egg yolks can the substituted for apple sauce. 1 egg yolk = 1 tbsp apple sauce.

Cinnamon Rolls

Part 1: The Dough for the Rolls

Ingredients:

• 400g Self Raising Flour
• 4 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• 75g Margarine
• 2x Egg Yolks
• 120ml Milk

How To:

1. Preheat your oven to 200/C and grease up a cake tin which has the radius of an iPhone (don't look so shocked. I don't have a ruler just on me at all times. You know how it works here by now)
2. Grab your self raising flour, your sugar and your cinnamon and mix them together in a bowl
3. Add your margarine and mix to create some breadcrumbs
4. Beat together the milk and the egg yolks and then add them to the mixture. Blend these all together until they form a dough
5. When you've formed the dough, roll it out so that it is the thickness of an iPhone
6. When you've finished that, set it to one side

***

Part 2: The Filling

Tip: Now, the trick with the filling is not to overcomplicate it. It's going to look a bit gritty and crumbly but once it is cooked, it would have melted. A lot of people will tell you to use white sugar for this one, but at high temperatures and being cooked inside a pastry with an open top, I try to make a small amount of filling to lower the sugar content - this means I need to use a darker, harder sugar that melts into more of a caramel-like gooey-ness rather than slips away leaving residue behind.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• 60g Brown Sugar
• 40g Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla Essence

How To:

Cream together your butter and your sugar, it will be kind of gritty but don't worry about it - just make sure you don't whisk it too much so that it goes liquidy. You're looking for the consistency of paste

Add your vanilla and cinnamon and mix together once more

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Part 3: Putting Them Together

1. After this, grab your rolled out dough and leave about an inch at each end clean
2. Spread your filling on the rest of the dough, making sure everything is nice and even - you don't want it too thick in some places and too thin in others
3. Roll your dough like a Swiss roll and then cut it into rolls (leaving out the absolute ends without the filling) of about an inch thick
4. Place them in the greased cake tin about half an inch apart (remember, they're going to expand)
5. Put them into the oven for about 20 minutes, then check them. If they have crisped from the outside then they're done. If not, put them back in for another five or so minutes
6. Set them aside to cool once done

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Part 4: The Topping

Now, what would these be without their signature topping? It's easy to make so don't overcomplicate things...

Ingredients:

• 60g Icing Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Cream Cheese
• 1 Tbsp Margarine
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Essence

How To:

1. Whisk all the ingredients together until it forms a substance that resembles children's liquid glue
2. Pour/Spoon over the cooled rolls
3. Enjoy your rolls!

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Conclusion

You should have some lovely cinnamon rolls now and you can even warm them up to enjoy them. What I would recommend is warming them up just until the icing topping you've put on top starts to melt a little down the sides. I think I was quite pleased that it doesn't actually take too long to do, it's just a bit fiddly. Can I also recommend that you don't overwork your dough because it will come out really stringy and chewy. Once you've rolled it out, that's it - don't play with it anymore!