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Sweet Confessions Sunday Link Party #13 and Klerebearsweets
Welcome everyone to this weeks link party! This week I have the featured links in their very own post that you can check out too. Make to to check out the fabulous posts! This week I am trilled to pieces to have a fantastic co-host joining me for my link party this week. I am honored to introduce you to my classmate, fellow blogger, and friend: Claire, from Klerebearsweets! She has a beautiful blog, writes the most engaging and enjoyable posts, and has incredible tasty recipes in her repertoire.
Without further blah blah blah from me, here is Claire with a recipe that is sure to make you hop, skip, and jump right in the kitchen to get baking.
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Good Morning & Happy Sunday! My name is Claire and I am the author of klerebearsweets - a blog that's basically my way of recording all the recipes of the food I like to eat! I have a gigantic sweet tooth so I'm always looking for new dessert recipes to try. If you ever have a recommendation, please feel free to stop by, say hi, & make a suggestion! Bonus points if it includes peanut butter and chocolate!
social media links for those of you addicted like I am :)
klerebearsweets |
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So the recipe below is one that is just so perfectly autumn in my opinion - Chai Spiced Cinnamon Rolls!
Once you smell the aroma of the dough, you'll just know it's autumn, despite whatever the weather may be outside (here in California, the weather has been very indecisive). Anyway...
So a few days ago (or maybe it was just yesterday, who knows), I read about what was probably the most awesome and photo-worthy brunch ever for the blogging world -
Joy the Baker &
Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere. I have long been a fan of both these blogs so of course I couldn't wait to see what the two of them collaborated over for their meet-up. My highlight from reading the posts: Chai Spiced Cinnamon Rolls. Don't those just sound like autumn? Say it out loud a few times, it'll hit you. Or maybe not. Anyway, be sure to go check out their posts and see all the wonderful photos & other things they did, in addition to making these perfect Autumn breakfast/brunch/lunch/anytime treats.
So yes, rather than do the million other things I needed to do last night, I began making chai spiced cinnamon roll dough. Just look at that wonderful ball of dough. The aroma of cinnamon filled my kitchen last night and it was AWESOME. Also, a whole stick of melted butter gets drizzled in at this point - how can this recipe not be amazing?
You roll it, you pat it, you mark it with a...wait a second, that's not right. Anyway...skipping ahead after the letting it rise bit, I rolled this sucker into what I would guesstimate is a 9x13 square. Or maybe 9x12? Not sure. I just kept rolling because I felt like it was too thick at the 10x10 mark.
Roll it tightly into a delicious spicy-cinnamon cylinder.
AND NOW WE DRIZZLE MORE MELTED BUTTER ON TOP! Pretty sure Paula Deen would be proud.
Baked cinnamon-y deliciousness. Do you see all that caramelized sugar? Crunchy goodness.
Now we drizzle the spiced glaze on top! Time to eat!
Chai Spiced Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted from
Joy the Baker
Dough
1 – 1/4 oz (just over 2 teaspoons) package active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon, plus 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
2 1/2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for kneading
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Spiced Icing:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk (I would like to note that Joy says to use heavy cream, but alas, I was out of heavy cream and only had milk - it works fine, it's just not as rich)
a healthy dash of cinnamon (and by healthy, I mean your hand accidentally slips and there's close to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in there)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine yeast, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 cup water heated to about 115 degrees F - warm but not scalding hot. You don't want to kill the yeast. Stir to combine and let sit until frothy and foamy, about 10 minutes.
Add remaining sugar, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat with a wire whisk until well combined. Fit the bowl onto the mixer, fitting with the dough hook attachment.
Add the flour, spices, and salt and mix on medium speed until the dough just begins to come together. Turn the machine on medium-high and knead the dough for 4 minutes. The dough will be very moist.
With the mixer on medium speed, add the butter about 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to knead for about 6 minutes. The dough will be wet and sticky.
Place the dough on a well floured work surface, and knead about 1/3 cup all-purpose flour into the dough. The dough will likely be a little sticky still, not to worry. Place the giant ball of dough into a greased bowl (I just take a dab of butter or vegetable oil - whichever is closet - and rub it around the mixing bowl that I just used, to save dishes). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size. (If your house is a bit chilly, this make take up to 3 hours).
While the dough rises, make the filling. Combine the sugar, brown sugar, spices, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in the maple syrup. The filling should seem like damp sand. That's such a lovely analogy I know. But that's what it looked like to me.
When the dough has doubled in size, dump it from the bowl onto a heavily floured work surface. Gently knead the dough adding more flour as needed. Work the dough for about 1 or 2 minutes. Once it’s no longer very sticky, place a kitchen towel over the dough and let rest for 5 minutes before you roll it out.
Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10 x 10-inch square or just keep rolling until all of a sudden you have a giant thing of cinnamon-y flat dough, like I did. As the picture shows, I ended up with closer to a 9x13 rectangle than a 10x10 square. No matter. This dough is so yeasty that it puffs up like crazy in the oven, so you're good to go with thin.
Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter (1/2 stick). We’ll use the rest of the butter after the rolls are cut.
Pour all of the filling onto the dough. Spread evenly, leaving a 1-inch border at one of the short edges of the dough so the roll can be properly sealed. Lightly press the filling into the dough.
Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder. Place dough cylinder seam side down on a cutting board. Using a sharp, thin knife, gently mark how many slices you will make. I left the uneven bits so I ended up with 13 rolls. Joy only had 8. Your choice. Try to get them equal in width though.
Butter a few pie tins, if you have them. Or just butter a 9x13 metal baking dish. Squish those little cinnamon suckers in the pan, so they are snuggled tightly together, but are not bulging out of the pan.
Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 1 hour. You may also cover the rolls with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (Which is an awesome idea because then all you have to do is heat the oven, pop them in, and make the frosting. Then voila - delicious Autumn breakfast/brunch).
Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover the rolls. If you refrigerated the rolls, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking. Drizzle with remaining melted butter and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 - 30 minutes. You may need to adjust this according to your oven. I would recommend checking at about the 18 minute mark, and pricking with a toothpick.
Icing:
While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and milk in a small bowl until smooth.
Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack. Let cool for 5 minutes. Using your whisk (or a fork), drizzle the spiced icing all over the rolls. Serve immediately. (If you plan to eat them later in the day, microwave them for about 25 - 30 seconds first. You'll thank me.)
These are crunchy-caramelized sugar-cinnamon-y goodness. Enjoy!
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Thank you so much for bringing us that amazing recipe and post Claire! Now, on to the party!
