On-a-Whim Cinnamon Rolls
About once a month, my family wakes up with a collective craving for a gooey cinnamon roll. Usually homemade cinnamon rolls require forethought, often needing to be started 12-24 hours before eating them. I realized that I could take my 20 minute baking powder biscuits and turn them into a pretty close likeness to cinnamon rolls with a few tweaks. I tried it on one of those mornings we dreamed of a cinnamon roll for breakfast and it was heralded as “the best ever” by the whole family. Needless to say, we’ve never gone back to the day long recipes again and we happily devour homemade cinnamon rolls thirty minutes after the craving arrives. It’s a bit like magic.
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour (we use all purpose einkorn)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup whole milk
Filling:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Glaze:
1 cup organic powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
splash of warm water
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grate the cold butter with a large cheese grater or diced into small cubes. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the butter and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it is sandy in texture. Add the thyme, cheese and apple butter and mix again with your fingers. Add the sausage and use your hands to gentle combine the mixture together. You don’t want to apply too much pressure and compress the mixture together, just enough to get the flour mixture and the sausage evenly incorporated.
Line a large baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper and use a small scoop or spoon to make little balls with about 2 tablespoons of mixture. Roll them gently into a ball. Place them about 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown on the outside. Enjoy hot or at room temperature!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Get your pan ready to go. You can use any baking dish you’d like! We typically use a square enamel pan that’s 8x8, but have used glass baking dishes as well.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together. Use a fork to get it light and fluffy before adding the milk. While stirring with the fork, slowly add the milk. It will be a shaggy dough (meaning it doesn’t fully hold together but has rough bits hanging off the sides). Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. If it’s too wet you can add a bit more flour, if it’s too dry you can drizzle a bit more milk in. Knead the dough on a floured board for about a minute. I like to fold the dough in thirds, pat it out and do it again. This creates layers in the dough. Let it rest on the board while to get the filling ingredients together.
Roll or pat the dough out to about 10x14 rectangle on a well floured surface. You don’t need a ruler, just do your best! Check to make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the board. You won’t be able to roll it up if it’s stuck! This dough is very forgiving so don’t worry if it tears, just patch it back together.
Pour the melted butter over top and use a spoon to smooth it out evenly. Sprinkle the two types of sugar and cinnamon over the butter. Slowly and gently, roll the dough into a spiral longwise. This means you’ll end with a 10 inch log. Use a sharp knife to cut into 9 or 10 one inch slices. Carefully transfer the rolls to the pan. You want them nestled together, leave maybe 1/4 inch between each roll so they kiss each other as they bake. Pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes, until they take on a golden hue.
While they bake, mix the glaze ingredients together. The warm water will gently melt the butter and make the glaze smooth and shiny. I like to use a whisk to get any lumps out and make it light and fluffy.
Remove the rolls from the oven and spread the glaze overtop. If you can help it, wait a few minutes before digging in as they will be quite hot. Although, a burnt tongue is a small price to pay for that first heavenly, steaming bite.
