Cinnamon Rolls

It’s here, folks—the end of the fall semester. It’s now time to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on your final assignments, attend the last of your lectures, and, on my end, write up the last weekly Blackboard Special for this year.

As exam season approaches, many of us turn to junk food and desserts for comfort as we attempt to memorize notes and make last-ditch attempts to understand foreign concepts. My favourites include chocolate, pizza, and cinnamon rolls.

Generally, I would buy a box of cinnamon rolls—making the dessert is a thought that I’ve never entertained or even dreamed about. So it came as a shock to me when my younger sister invited me to join her as she made the rolls from scratch, filled them up with cinnamon goodness, and poured syrup over the baked rolls.

This recipe certainly isn’t easy; kneading dough and rolling it into perfect rolls takes skill. But in the end, there are homemade cinnamon rolls that are indistinguishable from the ones at a local Cinnabon—that’s more than worth it.

Cinnamon Rolls

SERVES 8–12

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp of vanilla essence
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tbsp ghee (Indian clarified butter)
• ¾ tsp yeast
• ¼ cup of milk powder
• ¼ cup of milk
• ¼ cup of oil
• 2 cups of maida flour
• 1 cup of water

Filling:

• ½ tsp ghee
• ¼ of a butter stick
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• ½ tbsp cinnamon powder
• Cumin powder to taste

Syrup:

• 1 tbsp sugar
• 6 tbsp milk

Icing:

• 5–6 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup of sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• ¼ tsp vanilla

METHOD

1. Mix together the ingredients for the dough. Knead thoroughly.
2. Place the dough in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
3. Whip the filling mixture together.
4. Grease a pan and the rolling board used for rolling the dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
6. Remove the dough from the freezer. Roll the dough flat.
7. Spread the filling mixture on top of the dough. Sprinkle cumin powder on top.
8. Separate the dough (without disturbing the filling mixture) into strips.
9. Roll each strip of dough into a compact roll shape with the filling inside. (It may be useful to look up typical shapes for a cinnamon roll as a guide.)
10. Place the cinnamon rolls in the pan and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.
11. Remove the cinnamon rolls from the oven and allow to cool.
12. For the syrup, combine the sugar and milk in a kettle or pot and boil until the mixture is diluted. Cool the syrup.
13. Brush the cinnamon rolls with the syrup.
14. Combine the icing ingredients together and mix thoroughly.
15. Ice the cinnamon rolls.
16. Serve immediately.