2014 Cooking Club Week 4: Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

*apologies for lack of pictures for now, will have them uploaded later on, some technical issues.

This is a recipe has evolved from several I have found and tried of the last couple of years. Cinnamon Rolls are a really indulgent wintry comfort treat. We had these on Christmas morning. It certainly wouldn't be your everyday breakfast, or one for those on diet, as there is a bit of work involved but IMO it’s worth the payoff! Best enjoyed warm, fresh from the oven with a good cup of coffee, or with a side of ice cream for dessert.

The Cinnamon Roll has 3 main parts.
1) The Dough
2) The Filling and
3) The Glaze
We’ll start with the dough, which is a sweet bread dough. The ingredient amounts here will make two lots of dough, I stick to this as it uses a full sachet of yeast, rather than wasting the other half. It will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days, and I’m sure it would freeze, although I haven’t tried it myself. They never last that long here!! The recipe can be scaled up easily so I imagine these amounts for the dough could be halved if you didn’t want to make the extra.

The Dough
Ingredients:
575g Plain Flour, 75g flour plus extra for surfaces and kneading
475ml Milk
125g Butter
125g Sugar
Dried Fast Action Yeast (1 7g Sachet)*
1 heaped teaspoon Baking powder

1) Add the milk, butter and Sugar to a pot and heat through on low, stirring to dissolve the sugar, until just before the milk reaches boiling point. Set the pot aside to cool.
2) Once the mixture is warm and not hot, add the sachet of yeast. Adding the yeast while it is still hot will kill the yeast so be patient here. Let it sit on the surface for a minute, then stir gently and leave aside for a further 3-4 minutes.
3) In a large mixing bowl, place the flour and make a well in the center. Slowly pour in the liquid yeast mix, incorporating all of the flour and stir until the mixture comes together well.
4) Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm, draft free spot for a minimum of 1 hour.
5) Once the dough has doubled in volume add 75g of flour and a heaped teaspoon of baking powder. Mix through thoroughly. It will still look wet and sticky, don’t worry about that.
6) Turn the sticky dough out onto a floured worktop and knead through until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary. It is easiest to flour your hands well to avoid the worst of the sticking. Kneading to the right point usually takes me about 10-15 minutes. If you had a stand mixer and dough hook attachment you could use that either.
7) Roll the dough into a ball and cut in half, set aside one batch and carry on with the other for filling.

The filling.
Ingredients:
200g Butter
200g Caster sugar
1 Heaped tbsp Cinnamon
Pecan nuts (optional, could also substitute for walnuts or flaked almonds)

1) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees conventional or 180 for a fan oven.
2) Place pecan nuts in a bag or between a tea towel and bash with a rolling pin/mallot.
3) Melt butter in saucepan and add sugar and cinnamon once off the heat. Mix very well to form a buttery gooey paste.
4) Roll out the dough to about half a centimetre in thickness, in a long rectangle shape.
5) Spread out the filling mix leaving a small margin at the outer edges. At this stage you can add more butter/ cinnamon if you like, gooey and sticky is what you want to go for.
6) Sprinkle over the broken up nuts.
7) Roll the dough over, from the long end. Try to keep it tight and tuck in the ends once you are finished. Some of the filling might ooze out as you roll, don’t worry about that.
8) Cut the roll into 1 inch sized slices. (I find a serrated knife good).
9) Butter a large oven friendly dish, preferably round or oval but any will do. If it is a metal baking tin make sure you line it with parchment paper.
10) Arrange the rolls in the baking dish as evenly spaced as possible.
11) Place in the oven to cook for 35-45 mins, until the rolls are well browned and the tops are slightly crispy.


The glaze
Ingredients:
50ml Milk
175g Icing Sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract*
If you aren’t a fan of vanilla or want a change, you could use maple syrup or a spoon of instant coffee granules in the milk instead.

1) Heat the milk in a sauce pan, add to sieved icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
2) Mix well to form a runny paste
3) Drizzle Generously over hot cinnamon rolls.
4) Enjoy!