45-Minute Cinnamon Rolls

Pre-rolling

Who doesn't love cinnamon rolls?  Even I like them, and I am not big on sweets.  I have made them before, but they aren't quick by any means; they involve yeast and rising and lots of waiting, which can be hard to do when you cannot stop thinking about gooey warm cinnamon rolls.  So, when Kenzie found a recipe for so-called "45-minute cinnamon rolls" (from scratch!!! No refrigerated dough!), I knew it had to be done.  On Sunday for the football game, I made these rolls, along with big soft pretzels (I've blogged about them before.  Sooo good!).  I have said it before and I will say it again: I am the best person to host football parties because I could not possibly care less about missing the game!  The best news is that there are only like 2 football games left this season!  WAHOO!

Anyway, back to the rolls.  They really are fast!  They have no yeast, which makes the bread part of the roll a little softer and less... well, bread like.  They are basically buttermilk biscuits, rolled around a filling of brown sugar, nutmeg and lots of cinnamon.  And butter.  Lots and lots of butter.  As in one whole stick of melted butter.  I was feeling a little bit fat that day, so I decided not to make the cream cheese glaze for the top (I could not bear to melt 3 more tablespoons).  I do actually wish that I had made the glaze though, because they really could have used something saucy on top (and although these rolls were quite popular here, the glaze was requested), but even without it, these are good.  The filling is so spicy and melty and amazing, and the bread is soft and sweet. And they take less than an hour!!!  The dough is certainly not as easy to work with as a yeast dough; be prepared to use a bench scraper because you will not be able to roll it or get it off the counter very easily; but it is worth it.

Before baking (and puffing up like crazy!)

Recipe:

 

45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls

From Cooking Classy, originally adapted from The Quick Recipe by Cook's Illustrated

Total Time: 45 minutes

The finished product!

Yield: 8 servings

 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

6 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt, divided

8 Tbsp salted butter, melted

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 recipe Cream Cheese Glaze, recipe follows

 

Cream Cheese Glaze

3 oz cream cheese, softened

3 Tbsp butter, softened

1 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions

1)  Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a 9-inch cake or pie pan with 1 Tbsp melted butter, set aside. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, 2 Tbsp granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt, set aside.

 

2) In a separate mixing bowl whisk together light-brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 tsp salt. Add in 1 Tbsp melted butter and blend mixture together with your fingertips or a fork until mixture is well blended and evenly moistened, set aside.

 

3) Measure out buttermilk into a liquid measuring cup and stir in 2 Tbsp melted butter. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms and liquid has been absorbed, then knead mixture in bowl by hand just until smooth, about 30 seconds (dough will be sticky).

 

4) Sprinkle a clean work surface with a fair amount of flour. Pat the dough with your hands into a 12 x 9-inch rectangle. Brush top of dough with 2 Tbsp melted butter then sprinkle evenly with brown sugar mixture, coming within a 1/2 inch of the border on all sides. Press the brown sugar filling into the dough (they stated "firmly press" in their recipe which didn't make sense to me because then you are flattening your dough and releasing some of the rise the baking powder has already given so I only lightly pressed). Starting on the long side, roll dough (using a bench scraper or metal spatula to loosen dough from work surface if necessary) snugly and gently to opposite end. Pinch the end seam to seal. Roll the log seam side down and cut dough into 8 equal portions.

 

5) Place 1 roll in the center of the prepared baking dish, then place remaining 7 rolls around it. Brush tops of rolls with remaining 2 Tbsp butter. Bake in preheated oven 22 - 25 minutes until edges are golden brown. (After baking you can invert the rolls using a plate onto a wire rack). Serve warm drizzled with Cream Cheese Glaze. Store in an airtight container and reheat in microwave if desired.

 

Cream Cheese Glaze

In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on medium speed, blend together cream cheese and butter until well combine and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in remaining ingredients and mix until well combine. Store in an airtight container.