So what if we skipped right from Hanukkah to Christmas? That’s allowed, right? (And yes, we recognize both in our household, and thus both deserve equal attention when it comes to food).

Contrary to what you might believe, we actually have been not only eating but actually cooking food in these past few weeks. And I’ve got a couple of recipes backlogged that we ate and loved and even photographed, but just haven’t gotten around to posting (whoops).

Maybe it’ll be my blogging resolution to post things immediately after we eat them, at the very least to show you that we’re eating something other than microwave dinners and take out (rare, yes, but it happens).

Anyways, aside from the fact that we barely made it to the grocery store before it closed last night, we managed to cook some pretty delicious stuff today.

It all started with fresh cinnamon rolls in the morning (or, early afternoon… it was nearly noon before they were done).

I saw this recipe and just had to try them. We made them for the 2nd time this morning (the photo above is of the 1st batch a few weeks ago), this time trying a variation with plain vanilla extract instead of almond. Unfortunately we ran out of powdered sugar, so they didn’t get the oozing frosting glazed on top, but they almost don’t need it… a slight dusting of sugar is enough to make you fall over in bliss.

I made the dough last night, let it rise for a few hours, then punched it down and chilled it overnight. I rolled and filled them this morning, then let them proof for 30 minutes in a cold oven over a pan of boiling water (advice via Alton) before baking. Next time I’ll even try rolling them out the night before and proof and bake in the morning, so they might actually stay breakfast instead of a substitute lunch.

Can I just warn you that once you’ve made cinnamon rolls from scratch, you may never be able to buy the tubed ones again.

Yield: about 30 mini or 12 standard sized rolls

Teeny tiny cinnamon rolls

5

5 stars (from 1 reviews)

Print Recipe Leave a Review

Ingredients:

• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

For Filling:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon orange or almond extract

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 1 1/2 hours. (dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched).
3. Punch down dough. Separate dough into quarters and roll each section out into flat rectangles about as thick as a flour tortilla.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the filling. Spread about a quarter of the mixture on the flat sheet of dough and roll the dough up jellyroll style. Slice each finished roll into small sections (you can make larger cinnamon rolls or smaller ones depending on  your preference). Arrange slices, cut sides down, in baking pan. Continue with each of the quarters of dough. Allow rolls to rise for about 35 to 40 minutes or until roughly doubled in size, then bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes for mini rolls or 20 to 30 minutes for standard sized rolls.
5. For the glaze, mix together a tablespoon of melted butter, a tablespoon of milk or cream, a teaspoon of orange extract (or almond extract) and 2 to 4 cups powdered sugar, as needed to achieve desired consistency.
6. Glaze the rolls as soon as they’re out of the oven to seal in the softness. Let them cool for a few minutes then devour!

Recipe from Never Bashful with Butter.

All images and text ©Lindsay Landis / Love & Olive Oil

Did you make this recipe?

Let us know what you think!
Leave a Comment below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.