Tasty traditional cinnamon rolls and pecan and citrus variations.
Recipe and photos by Rita Heikenfeld
One bite of BETTY HOWELL’S homemade cinnamon rolls during a brunch class we taught together was all it took for me to decide that these sweet, larger-than-your-hand heirloom treats were keepers.
“Baker Betty,” as my grandkids call her, lives with her family down the road in her childhood farmhouse. A fourth-generation baker, Betty’s thriving cottage food-baking business has folks calling in advance, especially for her multi-layered, sturdy yet soft, thick-frosted cinnamon rolls.
I asked Betty if I could share her recipe with you. “Absolutely. Don’t forget the variations!”
If you enjoy bakery-quality cinnamon rolls but not the price, try making a batch. I promise you can do this.
Prepare the dough by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon and a bit of “elbow grease” like Betty does, or in the mixer like I do.
Let the little ones help knead. “Smooth as a baby’s bottom” is your goal here.
Rolling the filled dough up may look challenging, but it just takes a little time. You may not get an even cylinder from the first attempts, but no worries. You’ll have a few different-sized rolls, and that’s okay. They’ll still taste amazing.
Cinnamon roll dough is surprisingly versatile. The light-coated butterscotch pecan rolls and orange-zested rolls are made from the same master dough.
Make and bake rolls immediately, or let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight for freshly baked morning pastries. The aroma alone will leave you with an anticipatory smile!
MASTER RECIPE CINNAMON ROLLS
Ingredients
Dough
1 package active dry yeast (¼ ounce)
½ cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
½ cup lukewarm milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
Extra flour for dusting counter
FILLING
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Saigon or favorite cinnamon
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
Buttercream Frosting
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons or more of milk
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
Dough
Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixing bowl.
After yeast bubbles, add milk, sugar, butter, salt, and egg.
Stir to combine.
Stir in 2 cups flour, and beat until smooth.
Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that’s still a bit sticky.
I used a total of 3 cups.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, up to 5 minutes.
Place in greased bowl, then turn dough greased side up.
Cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 1½ hours. When doubled properly, an indentation with your fingers remains when touched.
Punch down dough. Bless dough!
Shape into an oval, then roll into about a ¼-inch thick rectangle. Betty’s tip: “The thinner the dough, the more layers.”
Mine was about 22-inches long-by-11-inches wide. Next time, I’ll roll it out even thinner.
Filling and Making
Line baking pans with parchment paper or grease lightly.
Mix sugar and cinnamon.
Brush dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture.
Roll dough up on the long side (jelly roll style) as tightly as possible.
Butter sometimes oozes through, but no worries. Go slow and keep tucking tightly.
Cut into 2 to 2½-inch thick slices. Place cut-side-up on baking sheet, a good 2-inches apart.
Cover, let rise in warm, draft-free place until almost double, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool completely before frosting.
FROSTING
Pour confectioners’ sugar into bowl.
Pour in melted butter and 4 tablespoons milk. Whisk until smooth.
If too thick, add a bit more milk.
Spread frosting on top and sides.
Yield: 10 or more rolls
TIPS
- Tightly covered, at room temperature for 2 to 3 days; refrigerator 5 days.
- Freeze unfrosted rolls up to 3 months.
- Use a strong cinnamon for full-flavor, such as Saigon. Or you can use “cinnamon cassia,” which isn’t technically a cinnamon, but has a similar, strong flavor and is often sold as cinnamon commercially.
- You can prepare the dough ahead of time. Put dough in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. It will do a slow first rise in refrigerator. Let dough sit out 30 minutes or so, then continue with recipe.
- Quick rise yeast gives faster rise to dough.
- Salt enhances flavor and tempers rising of yeast.
- Sugar sweetens rolls and helps activate yeast.
- Unsalted butter has a lower water content than salted. But if salted is all you have, reduce salt to ¾ teaspoon.
- Adding an egg will produce a soft, rich, slightly yellow dough.
- Whole milk makes the best-tasting rolls. Use low-fat if necessary but not nonfat milk. I’ve not made this with non-dairy. Let us know if you make this substitution!
Betty’s Facebook page:
www.Facebook.comBetsSweetsAndTreats
BUTTERSCOTCH PECAN ROLLS
Betty bakes these in an extra-large muffin tin. They rival their pastry shop counterparts. The glaze on these rolls is very light. (Pecans are optional.
Ingredients
Dough
You’ll need only half a batch of dough.
If you want to use all of the dough, double filling and glaze.
Filling
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon Saigon or favorite cinnamon
Glaze
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Finely chopped pecans (optional) —scant teaspoon for each roll
INSTRUCTIONS
Dough
For rolling out dough, just follow instructions as listed in Master Recipe, but stop after rolling dough into ¼-inch thick rectangle.
Filling
Brush rolled-out dough with melted butter.
Combine sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle over buttered dough.
Roll dough up on long side (jelly roll style) as tightly as possible.
Butter sometimes oozes through but no worries. Go slow and keep tucking tightly.
Cut into 1-inch-thick slices. You’ll get 6 slices or so.
Glaze
Melt butter over low heat in saucepan.
Stir in brown sugar and syrup. Continue to cook on low, stirring constantly, until mixture is syrupy and bubbles a bit around the edges.
Divide evenly into each muffin tin.
Sprinkle pecans on top of syrup.
Place rolls cut-side-down in muffin tins.
Cover and let rise until doubled in draft-free place, about 40 minutes or so.
BAKING AND FROSTING
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool 3 minutes in muffin tins, then invert to serve.
Yield: 6 or so.
CINNAMON ROLLS WITH ORANGE ZEST GLAZE
Easy peasy, no special recipe. I thinned the frosting to make a glaze.
Immediately after glazing, I sprinkled zested orange peel on top. Lemon or lime work just as well.
RITA HEIKENFELD comes from a family of wise women in tune with nature. She’s a certified modern herbalist, culinary educator, author, and national media personality. Most importantly, she’s a wife, mom, and grandma. Rita lives on a little patch of heaven overlooking the East Fork River in Clermont County, Ohio. She’s a former adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati, where she developed a comprehensive herbal course.
Abouteating.com column: rita@communitypress.com