Cinnamon Buns

 

Forget about Cinnabons! These cinnamon buns are bigger and better. The recipe came from the King Arthur Flour site and I made a few adjustments so I could prepare them the night before Christmas and bake half of them on Christmas morning, freezing the rest for a later special breakfast. I also changed the method of preparing the filling slightly.

Makes 12 large buns

DOUGH

1 cup lukewarm milk

2 large eggs, room temperature

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

FILLING

5 tbs unsalted butter, softened (plus an extra 2 tbs. melted to spread on dough)

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3 1/2 tbs cinnamon

ICING

3 oz Neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese), softened

4 tbs. unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

To make the dough:

Mix together all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed for 4-6 minutes to make a smooth, soft dough.  Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let it rest, covered in a warm place until nearly doubled in bulk, 1 - 2 hours.

To Make the Filling:

Mix the softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon--using your hands may be easiest--until well combined.

To fill and shape the buns:

Gently deflate the dough and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Roll the dough into a 16 x 21" rectangle. Brush the rectangle with the 2 tbs melted butter. Spread the dough evenly with the filling mixture. Starting with a short end, roll the dough into a log and cut into 12 slices.

To make the icing:

In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla.

To bake the buns immediately:

Place on a greased 9 X 13 inch pan. Cover the pan and let rise about 30 minutes, until they are nearly doubled in size.

To make the buns the next day or to freeze for a later time:

Shape the buns and place them on a greased 9 X 13 inch pan (or in 2 nine inch round pans). Let rise for 15 minutes, then wrap carefully and place in the refrigerator (or freezer). 

To bake the buns:

Remove from the refrigerator while the oven heats to 400 degrees. (If baking from frozen, remove from  the freezer and let defrost in the refrigerator overnight.) Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

To ice the buns:

Place half the icing on the buns as soon as they are removed from the oven. Let buns cool for 5 minutes, then frost with the remaining icing.

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TASTE NEWS

These are just incredible. The dough is soft and light; the filling is perfectly sweet without being cloying. The icing ties the 2 together.  Pictures and words don't do them justice. I won't be looking for any other cinnamon bun recipe ever again.

Christmas Cookies 2020

 Since this year's holiday celebrations include 2 humans and 2 cats, I decided to make just a few cookies and a limited number per batch. I decided to try 3 new recipes and one oldie but goodie. The new recipes were for chocolate crinkles with sea salt, Linzer cookies, and pignoli cookies. The old standby was Mom's Mexican wedding cakes.

The recipe for the Linzer cookies is here. The recipe for the pignoli cookies is here.

Chocolate Crinkles with Sea Salt - 15 cookies

3 cups confectioners sugar

3/4 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs, room temperatue

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or pieces

1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

flaky sea salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spray with non stick spray.

Whisk sugar, cocoa, regular salt. Beat vanilla and eggs. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet. Add the chocolate and the nuts and mix well.

Spoon 1 1/2 tbs per cookie, 2 inches apart (they spread). Try to mound each cookie to keep the size the same. Sprinkle with the sea salt.

Bake, rotating once, for 12 - 14 minutes.

Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to wire racks to cook completely.

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Mom's Mexican Wedding Cookies -  Makes 3 dozen

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Line cookie sheets with Silpap or parchment paper.

1 cup (2 sticks) room temperature butter

1/2 cup confectioners sugar (plus more for rolling cookies in)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup crushed pecans

1 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients until a ball forms. Roll equal pinches of batter into balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 35-40 minutes until lightly browned. Roll in confectioners sugar while still warm.

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TASTE NOTES

I would recommend making the Linzer cookie dough first since it needs to chill. I would then make the chocolate crinkles, which are incredibly easy. I would then make the pignolis, which are a bit fussy to form. Next, I'd bake the Mexican wedding cookies, which are very quick to make. I left the Linzers for last because they are the most labor intensive, though I might rethink that. The dough does need to chill, but I was tired by the time I got to them, so maybe the should have been after the crinkles.

My favorite of the 4 was the Linzers followed just a smidge behind were the chocolate crinkles, which taste like a cookie version of lava cake. The Mexican wedding cookies are always a treat. The pignolis were good, but I've had better. I couldn't find my usual recipe for them, but will continue to look for next year.

Babkallah--a Mash up of Chocolate Babka and Challah Bread

 The King Arthur Baking site is one of my favorite sites for well-tested, delicious baked goods recipes. I saw their blog post on babkallah yesterday and just had to make it. It is, after all, the holidays and while we are not celebrating with family and friends this year, I had decided I'd bake a few cookies and cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Since I love both chocolate babka and challah bread, both of which I've baked in the past, I knew I had to make this yummy sounding mash up.

The recipe is here. I took a few photos of the process along the way to share and my only change to the recipe is to use my stand mixer for the dough and my food processer for the filling.

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TASTE NOTES

Some things are exactly as good as they sound. This is one of them. Don't be afraid of yeasted breads. I used instant yeast and the rises were perfect and the dough very easy to handle. The babkallah has a wonderful crumb, is just sweet enough, and has the added bonus of a somewhat chewy-crunchy exterior. While my first inclination was to wish there were even more chocolate inside, I know that would have made the loaf too heavy. This recipe is a keeper.