CinJust Too Good: (R.S.R.V.) Cinnamon Rolls

By: Sarah

 

Hello, it’s February, it’s THE MONTH dedicated to and for celebrating LOVE! We are so over the holiday season, the splurging, the chaos, the travels, let’s take a minute and place attention to see how we love and take care of ourselves. Not just about valentines and sweethearts, February is also a month for self-love, for fostering beautiful relationships with family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and loving your “enemies?” Yes, self-love, love your positive traits, love all of you — your weight, your imperfections, weaknesses, fears, peculiarities. Are we investing enough in our well-being and happiness? Like seeing a great movie (That Jason Statham’s Beekeeper movie is simply awesome action-packed movie, just saying!). Like taking a walk in the park. Like going out to a nice meal at a new restaurant. Like shopping at newly-opened Seafood City and pick up some Filipino snack bites and frozen delights. Like visiting a nearby spa for facials and massages. Like joining a zumba class. Like getting a haircut, or hair color.

And yes, most importantly…try a new recipe. It sure is a bit daunting, but nevertheless, it’s always gratifying. You get to enjoy a delish creation (unless it’s rockhard bread, oh no) and gain valuable cooking or baking skills in the process. And this love month’s featured recipe is an absolute breakfast/snack/dessert treat… RIDICULOUSLY SOFT RED VELVET CINNAMON ROLLS. It’s got the chocolatey flavors of a red velvet cake with tangy cream cheese icing…plus a delicious cinnamon filling reimagined in the form of fluffy cinnamon rolls. If you’re willing to take risks in the kitchen (the dough will be a tad sticky, but kneading well will get you to that perfectly smooth and elastic consistency) and looking for a way to impress a loved one, this is the baked product you’ll make again and again. It’s not all perfect at first try, but you enjoy the cinnamon rolls much more since you made them yourself, Even if you mess up, you’ll learn and enjoy the process…practice makes perfect. Who knows, after so many mistakes, you make a prize winning cinnamon rolls. Of late I’ve been seeing postings in Facebook of cinnamon rolls challenges. That’s a complicated recipe, to begin with, and you always have Cinnabon as the gold standard of cinnamon rolls, and considered the best cinnamon roll in the world. It’s ginormous, it’s rich, it’s pillowy soft, it’s a classic. And that cream cheese frosting…to die for (not to discourage you, but it’s been told, Cinnabons are the quickest way to become fat and diabetic!) Recipes of cinnamon rolls are everywhere, get them on line (you tube) and tweak it to your heart’s content. Research what others do to make a cinnamon roll. Experiment, feel free to fill the rolls, feel free to come up with interesting flavors, use different brands of Cinnamon powder, add nuts, cake crumbs, fruit preserves spread, chocolate chips, dark or light brown sugar…the possibilities are endless. Consider these exciting mouth-watering Cinnamon Rolls creations from a Texan company: White chocolate cookies n cream Cinnamon roll, Strawberry Sprinkle Cinnamon Roll, Chocolate Sprinkle Cinnamon roll, Tres leches Cinnamon Roll, Peach Cobble Cinnamon Roll, Banana Pudding Cinnamon Roll, Strawberry Cinnamon Roll, Blueberry Banana Doodle Cinnamon Roll, Toasted Caramel Crunch Cinnamon Roll, Strawberry Shortcake Crunch Cinnamon Roll, Cookies N Cream Cinnamon Roll, Churro Cinnamon Roll, Wet Walnut Cinnamon Roll, Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Roll. I know, I know, I just love Cinnamon Rolls (always a must to-do everytime I’m in a shopping mall or at the airport waiting area).

Here are some great tips to help you perfect the art of making cinnamon rolls.

1. Use instant dry yeast. SAF-INSTANT ® Gold is the best option when you’re baking with moderately sweet dough containing 5-20 percent sugar on flour weight, like brioche and filled buns.

2. Knead the dough, better using a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, until the dough is smooth and comes away from sides of the bowl.

3. Water or milk is variable. If you’re not very familiar with water absorption/hydration of your flours, don’t add all the water or milk indicated in the recipe. Or you will end up adding too much flour which make your rolls dry and tough.

4. Follow the straight dough method: knead the dough until the gluten is properly formed, let it rise until doubled, shape it, let it double in size again, and bake it. 5. Chill dough before shaping for easy rolling out and shape. Your rolls will be tighter and uniform.

6. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick to achieve gooey, chewy cinnamon rolls.

7. Leave a small section along one edge of the flattened dough without cinnamon-sugar filling so you can seal seams properly.

8. Use a very sharp knife to cut your rolls. Or opt for a piece of unflavored dental floss to loop around the dough and cut through the cinnamon rolls.

9. Place the formed cinnamon rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet 1-2 inches apart for the final rise.

10. Don’t overbake. Bake it at 350-375 F, I like baking mine at 375 F. I don’t like my rolls to be blonde. But watch it, you may have to cover the rolls with aluminum foil to finish baking if the rolls brown too quickly before they’re fully baked.

RIDICULOUSLY SOFT RED VELVET CINNAMON ROLLS (R.S.R.V.)

This is a double recipe — I love making a double batch of these delicious rolls, I highly recommend. Dough Dry Ingredients:

4 cups bread flour
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons iodized salt
Dough Wet Ingredients:
2 cups sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups warmed whole milk\
(I start with 200 grams, then add 1 teaspoon at a time as needed)
3-4 tablespoons liquid red food color (or more)
1 cup softened unsalted butter, added only after dough is formed following 3-4 minutes of mixing
Filling:
1 1/2 cups light or dark brown sugar
4 to 6 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup softened salted butter
Cream Cheese Icing:
8 oz cream cheese, at room
temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) softened salted butter
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
5 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Using a stand mixer, bring dry and wet ingredients together and knead until dough pulls away cleanly from sides of mixing bowl, no longer tacky to the touch and is smooth and elastic, around 15 to 20 minutes. Grease a clean bowl with vegetable oil and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise. The dough should double in size in 1-2 hours. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll out each dough into a rectangle of about 1/4 inch thick, or 22 inches by 13 inches. Mix together filling ingredients to a paste. Spread cinnamon sugar filling, leave 1/2 inch space free of filling. Roll tightly and seal edges. Cut the roll into 12 pieces using a sharp knife or unflavored dental floss. Place each cinnamon roll, cut side down, on greased and parchment lined 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, with side facing the rolls sprayed with cooking oil. Do the same for the other half (you may place half batch in the refrigerator overnight, and let it come to room temperature before baking). Let sit in a warm place again until almost doubled in volume, about 45 minutes. Bake at preheated 375 F oven for 15-20 minutes. Or at 350 F for 25-30 minutes. You can tent with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning during the last 5 minutes of baking. While waiting to cool the baked rolls, whip the cream cheese icing ingredients using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy. Allow rolls to rest 5-10 minutes before slathering in icing. Spread some icing on the cinnamon rolls and reserve some icing to add later. For extra indulgence (why not!), double the cream cheese icing recipe. And don’t be afraid to get creative with the filling (also add nuts, raisins and chocolate chips). For plain cinnamon rolls dough, omit cocoa powder and liquid food color.

LAST WORDS: Follow your heart this month. Love yourself a bit more each day. Say yes to yourself. Happy baking!