Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

My love of cinnamon rolls began on a camping and rock climbing retreat as young teenager.  The camp counselor/cook made homemade cinnamon rolls right at camp from kneading, raising, filling cutting and baking in a clever camp stove oven. As the smell permeated the camp, I couldn't wait to sink my sugar addicted teeth into something that smelled so good.  Yeasted sweet dough treats were not part of my childhood so this was a new and wonderful taste experience. But then for more than a decade, I did not think of cinnamon rolls, outside of the grocery store tube can variety, until the mall chain store pumped out giant, thickly frosted cinnamon rolls to the mall crowds.  Neither the tube can nor mall store rolls ever stood up to those camping rolls.  Then bread machines came on to the market in the early 1990s and cinnamon rolls became a mainstay in my home. My first bread maker was the Panasonic machine from 1994. That machine was extraordinary and didn’t break down until 2012 after making many loaves of bread and many more doughs for rolls of all kinds.  Though the bread machine does have its limitations as the breads produced are not artisanal and the bread quality tends to be the same across recipes, the bread machine fills a place in the home for fast and easy homemade bread for even the most unskilled or skilled and overworked person.

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

1 ½ pound loaf	1 pound loaf
3/8 cup milk or non-dairy milk	¼ cup milk or non-dairy milk
3/8 cup water	¼ cup water
1 egg	1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour	2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter or  nondairy butter substitute	3 tablespoons butter or  nondairy butter substitute
1/3 cup sugar	¼ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast or active yeast	1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast or active yeast
*Roll dough into 9X18 inch rectangle	*Roll dough into 8X14 inch rectangle
Filling	Filling
3 tablespoons of softened butter	2 tablespoons of softened butter
4 tablespoons sugar	3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon	1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cocoa powder if desired	1 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder if desired
Icing	Icing
3 tablespoons softened dairy free butter	2 ½ tablespoons softened dairy free butter
1 cup powdered sugar	3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons non-dairy milk of choice	2 ½ tablespoons non-dairy milk of choice
½ to 1 tsp vanilla, lemon juice, or lemon extract – adjust to personal taste preferences	½ to 1 tsp vanilla, lemon juice, or lemon extract – adjust to personal taste preferences

Line a sheet pan with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Place all ingredients in bread machine pan.

Select dough setting and press start.

When dough has risen long enough, the machine will beep.

Turn off bread machine, remove bread pan and turn out dough on floured countertop or cutting board.

Turn on proofing setting in oven, if have, or warm oven at lowest temperature for a few minutes then turn off.

Roll dough into the loaf size rectangle - *see above*

Filling

Spread the softened butter edge to edge across the rectangle.

Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder in small bowl.

Sprinkle the sugar mixture edge to edge across the dough rectangle.

Roll rectangle tightly into a log starting from the long end.

Pinch seam.

Put seam side to cutting board or counter and cut with a sharp thin bladed knife into the desired number of rolls and place rolls 1 inch apart on prepared pan

**see below if making ahead.

Thicker rolls 8-12 pieces 13/4 inches thick

Smaller rolls 12-16 pieces 1/1/4 inches thick

Cover with a lint free towel and let rise for 30 minutes until doubled in size in proofing oven, warmed oven, or warm place.

Once nearly doubled, remove from oven.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bake rolls for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Icing

Mix in a large bowl with whisk, hand mixer, or bowl mixer the powdered sugar and softened butter until combined.

Whisk in milk until smooth and at the consistency of a soft slow flowing icing or preferred desired consistency

Adjust consistency by alternately adding more liquid or powdered sugar.

Frost by stringing, pooling, spreading etc. – any coverage level and pattern desired.

**At this point, if desired, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and refrigerate overnight. 

Remove from refrigerator and let rise in proofing oven, warmed oven, or warm place until doubled in size - plan for extra time for the proofing step.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Cinnamon swirl bread is manna from the gods for a toast lover, like myself.  I have toast every single day.  I love my morning tea and toast.  This bread is delicious and smells like a cinnamon roll.  As a child, it was a real treat when my mom bought Pepperridge Farm cinnamon swirl raisin bread from the grocery store.  I wasn't too fond of the raisins but that bread was delicious.  I like to make cinnamon swirl bread every couple months to add some zest to the breakfast routine.  I have never used it in French Toast because it never lasts that long, but I have heard it is delicious that way.  Any sweet yeast dough recipe will work.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

makes 1 loaf 

2 cups all purpose flour, plus ¾ cup extra, if needed,

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, plus 2 tablespoons

1 egg at room temperature

¼ cup milk, at room temperature

¼ cup water, warm to the touch but not above 125 F

1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa

Raisins and nuts to taste

Put all ingredients in your bread machine and operate according to manufacturer’s directions. Proceed at the *

In a stand mixer, add yeast, tepid water, and a teaspoon of the sugar.  Mix gently with paddle. Let stand for 5 minutes until yeast softens and begins to bubble.

Add flour, salt, 3 tablespoons of butter, egg, remaining sugar, and milk.

Mix with the paddle attachment until the dough comes together. At this point I knead the dough with my hands in the bowl to insure all the ingredients come together.

Switch to the dough hook and knead for 8 minutes on medium low speed.

The dough should clean the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom.  Add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time if too wet or add more milk if dough is shaggy and breaking apart.

The dough should form a smooth shiny ball.

*Place in an oiled bowl, rolling the dough around to coat.

Cover with plastic wrap or lint free kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Butter an 8x4 inch loaf pan.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10x16 inch rectangle.

Spread 2 tablespoons of butter onto the rectangle then sprinkle with the cinnamon mixture, nuts and/or raisins if using.

From the short edge of the rectangle, roll the rectangle into a log, keeping the roll snug to avoid air between the layers. 

Pinch seams and carefully place seam side down in pan tucking under each end.

Cover with buttered wax paper and put in a warm place until double in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Place rack in center of oven.

Remove waxed paper and bake for 40 minutes until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow on the bottom when tapped.

During baking, if the bread becomes too dark, make a foil tent and place over bread.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

One of my absolute favorites is cinnamon swirl bread. When I bake a loaf I just might eat nearly the entire thing! The bread is redolent in fragrant cinnamon sweetened lightly with sugar and scented with orange zest. So lovely. This recipe, from Dorie Greenspan, called for cocoa in the cinnamon mix that I hesitated on adding but I am glad I did because the small amount only enriched what is already a delectable treat.

As a child, yeast breads were not generally homemade - I grew up in the convenience generation and really -why not - women were being liberated from the shackles of confining gender roles! There was a brief period where my mother made homemade bread out of necessity due to a job layoff and even though, they were stressful times I cherish those memories of the togetherness, the breads and big pot meals that had to last a week. I can still see my mom needing the dough and feeling the amazement of the risen dough, and my dad making his big pots of soup.  We may not have had all the things we needed but we had each other.   In some ways it reminds me of today's economic clime, where there is so much uncertainty, and cutting back is the name of the day. I feel a stronger sense of togetherness and have a firm belief that no matter what comes our way we will make it through. Even with my own sense of determination I realize that so many families are facing economic uncertainty and that suffering is plain suffering and that can dash any firm sense of "we shall overcome" attitude. I hope for those who are suffering that they take each day as it comes and may their dreams be laced with the fragrant scent of better times ahead.

My favorite way to eat the cinnamon swirl bread -toasted!

recipe