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 rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients
6 ½ Tablespoons (3.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5½ (2.75 ounces) Tablespoons softened butter
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon lemon extract or 1 teaspoon grated lemons zest of 1 lemon
3½ cups (16 ounces) unbleached bread or all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of instant yeast also known as rapid rising or fast rising (instant has 25% more living cells per spoonful than active dry yeast)
11/8 to 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk at room temperature
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
61/2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Up to 1 cup of dried fruits if desired
3 Tablespoons very soft butter


Making the dough
Cream together the sugar, salt and butter on medium high speed in a heavy duty mixer with the paddle attachment.

Whip in the egg and lemon extract or zest until smooth.

Add the flour yeast and milk and mix on low speed until the dough forms a ball (you may need extra flour).

Switch to dough hook attachment and mix on medium speed for approximately 10 minutes until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky.

Rise

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer dough to oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Forming the Rolls
Roll the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured counter top into a 14 inch by 12 inch rectangle for large rolls or a 18 by 9 inch rectangle for smaller rolls. The dough should be 2/3 inches thick. Don't roll too thin or the the finished rolls will be tough and chewy.
Spread the softened butter across the top of the dough then sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Roll the dough into a log using the longest part of the rectangle in a jelly roll fashion.
With seam side down cut the rolls
Thicker rolls 8-12 pieces 13/4 inches thick
Smaller rolls 12-16 pieces 1/1/4 inches thick.
Proofing
Line a baking sheet with parchment and place rolls on sheet approximately 1/4 inch apart - close but not touching.
Proof at room temperature for 75-90 minutes under a lint free towel until the pieces have doubled and grown into one another.
You may retard the shaped rolls in the refrigerator for up to 2 days pulling the pans out 3 to 4 hours before baking allowing the rolls to proof.
Bake the Rolls
Preheat oven to 350F with the oven rack in the middle.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool the rolls for 10 minutes and then streak with a white fondant glaze when the rolls are warm but not hot.
White Fondant Glaze
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice if desired
1/2 cup warm milk

Place the powdered sugar in a large bowl and whisk in the milk until the sugar is dissolved and smooth. Add the extract and juice.