Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

February 29, 2012

Gooey, glazy cinnamon rolls easy to make, hard to resist

By Kim Ode / McClatchy Newspapers

Two words: cinnamon roll.

OK, that was almost too easy. Yet today, while you're on the treadmill, or balancing your checkbook, or changing lanes, or reading a bedtime story, you will be thinking of having a cinnamon roll, ideally within the week. Maybe even sooner.

Such is the power of suggestion, especially when the suggested object is gooey and spicy and soft and sweet all at once.

Cinnamon roll.

Once you get one on a plate, you'll look for that subtle seam where the swirl begins and start pulling the roll apart in soft, cinnamony arcs, edging toward the core of the coil, which you know is the cinnamoniest and the gooiest bite, even as it's also the last.

While some may swear that there are no truly awful cinnamon rolls, there are substandard models. You know the culprits: The bread is dry or dense, the filling is stingy, or the glaze is grainy. The disappointment is tough to swallow, because cinnamon rolls aren't something we eat every day (or shouldn't, anyway).

One way of making sure you're enjoying the freshest, best rolls possible is to make them yourself. Cinnamon rolls aren't difficult, although their feather-light nature starts with a dough that admittedly is on the sticky side. While it's possible to knead it by hand, ideally with a bench scraper, life is a lot easier with a stand mixer and a dough hook.

Because the rolls are a yeast dough, and warm rolls are best, timing can be an issue since the process, from start to finish, takes about four hours. Rolls made the night before can be wrapped in aluminum foil and rewarmed in a 250-degree oven for 15 minutes. Or you can wake up before the sun to mix them, let them rise, shape, rise again and bake. Or schedule a late brunch!

Here's a neat solution: Mix the dough the night before, let it rise, then shape the rolls in a pan. Then cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator, although no longer than 12 hours. In other words, to serve freshly baked cinnamon rolls by 8 a.m., mix the dough the night before, let it rise for an hour, then shape the rolls, popping them into the refrigerator by 9 p.m. or so.

The next morning, take the rolls out of the fridge an hour before you plan to serve them. Replace the plastic wrap with a clean towel and let them sit for a half-hour in a warm spot to take off the chill while the oven preheats, then bake.

Friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers will fall at your feet, and it took only two words: cinnamon roll.

CINNAMON ROLLS

Makes: 12 large rolls.

Note: This recipe is adapted from "Baking With the St. Paul Bread Club," by Kim Ode (Minnesota Historical Society Press, $24.95).

2 eggs, beaten

1½ cup warm water

2¼ teaspoon (1 envelope) active dry yeast

½ cup nonfat dry milk powder

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup canola oil

4½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting, divided

1½ teaspoon salt

Cooking spray

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, very soft, but not melted

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoon cinnamon

GLAZE:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Milk to make a spreadable consistency

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, 1½ cups water, yeast, dry milk, sugar and oil. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or, if mixing by hand, a wooden spoon, add 3 cups of flour and mix well. Add salt.

Add 1 more cup of flour, then begin kneading with a dough attachment. If by hand, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured counter and, using a bench scraper, reach under the dough, lift it and fold it over itself.

(Continued on page 2)

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