Friday Foto: Cinnamon Rolls

Well, this is officially the latest Friday Foto I’ve ever posted. Depending on which time frame you’re in, this has the potential to be a Saturday foto! Today was a crazy day…an article deadline, Marin’s six month appointment with the pediatrician, and final preparations for the Xterra race, which starts in just a little more than twelve hours as I write these words.

Today’s Friday Foto is of cinnamon rolls. The rolls above started out nice and separate from one another, but we failed to account for just how much they’d puff when we baked them! As they pushed out into one another, I couldn’t help but notice the geometry…all the concentric circles, each set within a hexagon. After this photo was taken, we topped them off with icing and devoured most of the lot (with a little help from our friend, Tom).

The basis for the cinnamon roll is a sweet bread recipe that comes from my family’s Polish mock cake. But instead of the mock cake’s poppy seed filling, we substitute cinnamon sugar and butter. You’ll forgive me for not posting the recipe here…time is tight tonight, and I need my sleep before the race. But if anyone does want the recipe, please leave a comment and I’ll update the post next week.

Until then!

– Pete

UPDATE 7/15/09: You asked for it, and here it is… the recipe!

The Dough
¾ cup milk
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ cup butter
1/3 cup warm water (about 110°F)
4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packages)
3 eggs, room temperature
4 ½ – 5½ cups GF flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum

The Filling
¼ cup butter, melted
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

The Glaze
¾ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Steps:
1. Heat the milk in a saucepan until bubbles form around the edge of the pan (scald the milk), remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, salt and butter. Cool to lukewarm, about 115°F.
2. Pour the warm water into a large bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
3. Add the lukewarm milk mixture and eggs to the yeast, and stir to combine. Add 4 ½ cups flour and xanthan gum to milk/egg mixture. Mix well and form the dough into a ball. Add more flour if needed to make dough soft and smooth, and only a little tacky.
4. Roll out the dough between two large sheets of plastic wrap to form a rectangle that is 24×16 inches. (Create large sheets of plastic by slightly overlapping the long edges of two sheets of standard plastic wrap that are each two feet long.)
5. With the dough rolled out, brush the dough with ¼ cup melted butter. Combine the sugar and ground cinnamon and sprinkle on the dough.
6. Roll the dough to form a 24-inch long roll. Pinch the long edge of the roll to seal. Slice the roll into 16 equal cross-sections, each about 1½ inch wide.
7. Place the rolls on a greased 13x9x2 baking pan. Set the pan in a warm location free from drafts and let the rolls rise for 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
9. Bake the rolls for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
11. Mix together the powdered sugar and milk to make glaze.
12. Drizzle the glaze/icing over the cinnamon rolls and serve. Don’t put the glaze on too quickly after the rolls come out of the oven or it will melt off because of the residual heat.