Thursday, August 26, 2010

Cinnamon Rolls

Expectation: That whole grains would overpower delicate cinnamon roll dough.

Winning Recipe: Spelt Cinnamon Rolls


When I told my friend Shea about this blog, she claimed cinnamon rolls as the challenge she wanted to help take on. We tried two different recipes, one for Dark and Dangerous Cinnamon Buns from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book, which the book described as "simply irresistible," and another from Spelt Healthy! which promised "succulent and moist" rolls. Both recipes were labor intensive, taking over 5 hours total preparation time, but both lived up to our expectation. Surprisingly, spelt came out on top! The "dark and dangerous" buns had a lot of flavor, but the end result was overall too sweet, and I got flashbacks of the great pretzel failure when the dough did not obviously rise. 

The recipe is intense, but if you follow it correctly, I promise you will be happy with the results!

Ingredients:
Dough
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup warm water (110°F to 115°F)
  • 2 packages active dry yeast
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 4 cups white spelt flour
  • 2 cups whole grain spelt flour
Filling
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 4 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup raisins
Icing
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • milk (as needed)
Preparations:

Dough: First off, make sure the butter and eggs are out of the refrigerator. Over medium-low heat, warm the milk until it bubbles around the edges. Keep good watch to make sure it doesn't boil or burn on the sides. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, salt and butter. Set aside to cool, but stick in a thermometer and keep an eye on the temperature.

Warm a large mixing bowl by running under hot water, then dry. To the bowl, add 1/4 cup warm water and sprinkle in the yeast. Stir to dissolve and let sit for 10 minutes, until creamy. Ideally, after these 10 minutes, the milk mixture should be at 95°F. If it's not, it's ok to keep the yeast waiting. If needed, stir the milk to cool it off.

When ready, add the milk mixture to the yeast. Add the eggs, 2 cups of the white spelt flour and 1 cup of the whole grain spelt flour. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. In half cup increments, gradually stir in the rest of the flour. The dough should be slightly sticky. Turn out onto generously floured surface and lightly knead to form a soft, smooth dough. 

Place the dough in a lightly buttered or oiled boil and turn to coat all sides of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap, lid or damp towel; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume. Test after 25-30 minutes by lightly pressing into dough. If impression remains, dough is ripe. If dough is sticking to the edges of the bowl, detach with a plastic spatula. Depress dough by pressing down with lightly closed fist using gentle strength (do not punch!) to work across and around. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. With pastry scraper or sharp knife, divide into two equal pieces. Cover each piece with bowl or plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. 

Roll or pat one piece into a rectangle about 12" long and 9" wide. Spread 2 tbsp softened butter across surface. Sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup raisins. Roll from the long side and cut into 12 1-inch slices. Place rolls close together on lightly-buttered jelly roll pan or baking sheet and repeat with the other half. 

Place plastic wrap sprayed with oil over rolls and set aside in a warm place to rise. Check after 15 minutes by doing the same fingertip test. As they rise, preheat the oven to 375°F. Once the rolls have risen, place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the tops are lightly brown and sides are creamy white. 

As the rolls cool, prepare the icing. Combine the confectioners' sugar, salt, and vanilla and add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. The cooler the rolls, the thicker the icing, so this step takes a bit of self control. To store leftover rolls, place in airtight container with wax paper between layers and keep at room temperature or place in freezer. 

Nutrition facts for one roll:
276 calories
12g fat
45g carbohydrate
3.5g fiber
GI 75
GL 35

About the grains and ingredients:

Whole Grain Spelt Flour has a sweeter, milder flavor and contains four times the amount of fiber and about 40% more protein. Baked goods made with spelt have a more fragile structure than those made with wheat, so it shouldn't be used as a substitute in all cases. It does work well in muffins, quick breads and cakes, because of it's lighter, more tender qualities. It has a GI of 63. I purchased a bag of Bob's Red Mill whole grain spelt flour for $4.85 at Safeway.

White Spelt Flour, although stripped of it's bran and germ, still has a healthy amount of nutrients because the vitamins and minerals are more evenly distributed throughout the grain. It has a GI of 65. I purchased white spelt flour in bulk from Whole Foods.