Introduction: Addictive Cinnamon Rolls

About: An Italian living in China with a passion for cooking. I grew up in a picturesque town called Lecce nestled on the “heel of the boot”, Italy’s southern tip, between the Adriatic and Ionian se…
This morning I woke up with a huge headache…and I have no idea why…mmm, might have been because yesterday I had 3 cinnamon rolls and all that sugar and butter and sugar and butter and sugar has not been well processed by my body? Could be that?…nah, must have been this unbearable heat and the fact that is August 17th and I have to go to work while all my friends and family are on vacation…yeah, it’s definitely that…nothing to do with the sugar and butter, and sugar, and butter and sugar and…

Anyways, I have been dieing to share this recipe with you for months and despite its nutritional content and the possible day- after headache, it is defintely worth trying!

Cinnamon rolls are like a small cooking adventure, they need time and dedication and you never know how they are going to turn out until you try them and if they are good, well if they are good… they might become addictive…like they are for me now…but that’s an other story for an other time…

Ingredients:

For the dough

* 2 cups flour
* 70 ml milk
* 1/4 vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 pack dry yeast
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* Lots of melted butter
* 1/2 cup of sugar
* Lots of Cinnamon

For the frosting

* 1/4 bag of Powdered sugar
* 1 tsp Maple Syrup
* 1/8 cup milk
* 1 tbsp coffee
* 1 tbsp butter

Step 1: Make the Dough

Heat sugar, vegetable oil and milk. Make it really hot but not boiling. Then turn off the heat and wait till it become lukewarm.
Now add the yeast, mix and wait a minute.
Slowly sift in flour and mix well. (leave about 1/4 cup flour that we will use later)
Let the dough rest for about 1 hour or until it double in size.

Step 2: Make the Rolls

Now add the 1/4 cup flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well.
Sprinkle surface generously with flour.
Roll out the dough in a rectangular shape
Melt the butter and pour it on top of the dough. Don’t be stingy, go go go with that butter…it’s all good stuff! I used about 1/2 cup
Now sprinkle the sugar and lots of cinnamon….
Roll up the dough in a long snake shape and cut it into rolls (about 1 inch thick).
Place the obtained rolls in a slightly butter round, foil cake.
Bake at 200 C for about 15-20 min.

Step 3: Make the Frosting and EAT!

Mix powdered sugar with milk, Maple syrup (or maple flavoring if you are lucky to have it, I couldn’t find it anywhere here in shanghai), coffee and melted butter and mix well. NOTE: it has to be thick but pourable.
Drizzle the frosting on the warm cinnamon rolls, wait till they become one. Enjoy in moderation!

For more recipes, check out my cooking blog: www.expatcucina.com