When the hungry bears are at home.......

          It's the June school holidays here in Singapore. So my two sons, Amir & Maisur, will be home a lot. That also means that I'll get a lot of  "Mummy, is there any snack for us?". The first week of the holidays is over and to the delight of my hungry bears, I've already baked Cinnamon Roll (2 times), Potato Doughnuts and Snowy Princess. 

          Today I'm posting the pictures and recipe of the cinnamon rolls I made. Cinnamon roll has always been my  family's favourite. Thanks to our stay in the USA. There, cinnamon rolls are very popular and we always ate the ones at the Cinnabon outlets whenever we went to the  malls. Cinnabon used to have an outlet here in Singapore. There were also some other bakery outlets that sold cinnamon rolls in town. But now, they've all ceased operations. So every now and then, my children and sister would request that I bake some.

          I've tried many recipes for cinnamon rolls. But I've decided to stick to the recipe used at BITC during the bread-making course.The most important ingredient is, of course, the cinnamon powder. I've ever used a store-bought cinnamon powder but it didn't smell like cinnamon. So since then, I've ground the cinnamon sticks myself and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. I know it's time-consuming but I tell you it's really worth it! Even before baking the rolls, we could smell the fragrant cinnamon....... Can you imagine the smell when they are in the hot oven??? 

Dough

500g .....................High protein flour (bread flour )

75g .......................Castor sugar

10g .......................Milk powder

10g  ......................Instant yeast (I used 1 sachet (11g) instant yeast)

1/2 tsp ..................Cinnamon powder

1 ...........................Egg

250g .....................Cold water

50g .......................Butter

1tsp .......................Salt

For rolling-up:

Butter (softened)

Cinnamon powder

Dark brown sugar

1. Combine all the ingredients except butter and salt in a mixing bowl and mix using the dough hook on medium speed for about 2 minutes. (I'm using  Kenwood cake mixer, so I always use speed no 3 for mixing bread dough, as advised by the service centre.)
2. Add the butter and continue mixing for another 2 minutes.
3. Finally, add the salt and mix for about 4 more minutes.
4. Remove the dough and mould it into a round dough. Place it in a bowl and cover it with a cling wrap. Leave to prove for about 45-60 minutes.
5. Divide the dough into 2 portions and mould them into balls. Leave them to rest for about 10 minutes.
6. Then roll the dough into a rectangle of about  30 x 20cm (12 x 8 inches). 
7. Place the rolled-out dough on a pan lined with silicone or grease paper. Then place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This way, it's easier to roll up and cut the dough. Remove from the freezer and the pan. Roll out the dough again if it gets out of shape.
8. Spread the soft butter evenly on the rolled-out dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon powder generously and evenly, followed by the dark brown sugar.
9. Roll up the dough tightly and pinch the edge. Then cut the log into 9 equal parts and arranged them on a 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inch) pan lined with grease or silicone paper.
10. Leave the dough to rise for 30 to 45 minutes.
11. Bake at 180 deg C for about 35 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting (Optional)

125g.............. cream cheese

35g................ butter

70g ................powdered sugar

1/2 tsp ...........vanilla essence

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat the ingredients until smooth & creamy. Spread the frosting evenly onto the warm cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Powder

          Break some cinnamon sticks and fry them in a dry pan over medium fire. Turn off the fire once the sticks becomes fragrant. Keep frying for a while. Then grind the sticks ( I used a coffee grinder) until it turns into powder. Sieve the powder and put it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge.