Weekend Morning Cinnamon Rolls

At least one morning each weekend, I wake up early and try to put a nice breakfast together for TeamPug.  JPug loves these homemade cinnamon rolls which pair well with a homemade butter/cream cheese icing I found online.  The recipe below makes 8 rolls so we always have leftovers for breakfast the following week.  One note, these rolls are dense in nature…they aren’t flaky and won’t rise much.  Personally, I prefer the dense variety…oh, and they reheat terrifically well in the microwave.

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup veggie oil
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, follow this recipe for quick and easy homemade buttermilk using milk and vinegar or lemon juice)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (if you don't have cardamom, don't worry...just omit this ingredient)

 Directions

• Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and mix well
• Stir in veggie oil.  The veggie oil will make the dry mixture clump.  I usually try my best to break up the bigger clumps with a fork.
• Add buttermilk and stir until blended.  Once again, work clumps out of mixture with a fork.
• Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.  Add additional flour as needed to reduce dough's stickiness.
• Roll dough into a 15"x8" rectangle.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Spread butter over dough with a pastry brush.  I’ve found it easier to soften the butter and combine with sugars, cinnamon and cardamom (steps below).  Once it’s all mixed, then I spread the mixture over the dough.
• Combine sugars, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl and mix well.  
• Sprinkle over buttered dough.
• Roll up rectangle, jelly roll fashion.  Roll should begin at narrow end.
• Pinch seam to seal.
• Cut the roll into 1 1/2 inch slices (should make 8 rolls).  I usually just cut the roll in half and then cut each half in half again.
• Arrange the slices, cut side up in 8/9” round or 8/9” square, greased baking pan.
• Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven and serve hot.  I typically let the rolls set up for a few minutes to allow the butter/sugar mixture to harden a bit in the pan…totally a personal preference.

Icing – This recipe makes quite a bit of icing…if you’re not a big icing fan, you could probably half it and still have enough.  Otherwise, it might freeze well?!?!

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

 Directions

• Combine all ingredients and beat well with a rotary mixer until light and fluffy.  The icing has quite a bit of butter so if you don’t let the rolls cool a bit before icing, the icing will melt quickly.

Enjoy!


Thanks to Sarah Allman for this terrific cinnamon roll recipe!