Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are best for breakfast and dessert but they can also be eaten any time of the day, paired with your favorite coffee or tea. It is said that the first cinnamon roll was baked in Sweden. They call it “kanelbulle” which literally means cinnamon bun. It is not as sweet and heavy as the cinnamon rolls in the United States and it also has a hint of another spice which is cardamom. A variety of sweet and sticky, light, vegan, dairy-free or gluten-free cinnamon rolls can be found all over the world today.

Try making these delicious vegan cinnamon rolls at home. You will surely be surprised how easy they are to make.

Ingredients:

This recipe takes about 25 minutes to make. The dough needs to rise for a total of 3 hours. Serves 15 rolls.

Dough:

• ½ cup of water
• 1 lemon zest, grated
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups of all-purpose or plain flour
• 2½ tsp instant yeast
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp salt

Cinnamon Filling:

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp coconut oil, melted

Glaze:

• ½ cup of icing sugar
• 1 tbsp water

Instructions:

To prepare the dough, whisk water, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and 2 spoonfuls of flour together in a large mixing bowl until properly combined.
Add yeast and whisk well to dissolve.
Add another 2 spoonfuls of flour and give it a good whisk.
Whisk in sugar and salt.
Add flour in batches and mix using a spatula until it forms a rough dough.
Transfer the dough to a working surface.
To develop the gluten, knead by hand for about 5 minutes until you get a smooth dough. The dough should not be sticky to the touch.
Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place.
Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
To prepare the sugar-cinnamon mixture, simply mix granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Set it aside until ready to use.
To prepare the glaze, simply mix icing sugar and water together in a bowl until thick.
Dust your working surface with flour and roll out the dough to a ¼ inch thick rectangular shape.
Brush the top with a thin layer of oil. Make sure that you leave a centimeter border at the end of the dough. This will be used to stick the dough together when you roll into a log.
Evenly sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture on top of the oiled dough.
Roll the dough carefully to get an even log.
To close, brush the unoiled border with water and seal off the log.
Cut the log into 1-inch rolls and place them on a tray lined with greaseproof paper.
Cover the tray and let the rolls rise for 1 hour.
Halfway through the rising time, preheat the oven to 180°C or 360°F.
Bake the rolls for 12 minutes. Make sure you turn the tray halfway through for evenly browned and cooked rolls.
Remove the tray from the oven and immediately brush the rolls with the glaze.
Put them back in the oven and bake for another minute just to set the glaze.

Ideas And Tips:

• For the dough, you may substitute water with soy or almond milk for richer rolls.

• You may substitute lemon zest with orange zest or lime zest.

• Salt makes the dough rise much faster.

• Use a nylon beading thread or wishing wire to cut the log into rolls.

• You may use an electric mixer for the dough. Just make sure to follow the same procedure.

• If you want to learn more about our main ingredient, cinnamon, click this link: cinnamon.

images – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05u2CY7jbeo