Saturday, February 9, 2013

Cinnamon Rolls



Valentine's Day is on a Thursday this year.  School and work and soccer practice and wrestling meets all seem to be taking priority over our Valentine celebration.  It seems that the only time we will all be together that day is for breakfast so ... Valentine breakfast it is. 

I had seen a picture of a heart shaped cinnamon roll on pinterest and my mind immediately went to Valentine's Day.  There were no instructions on the website - simply a picture of an unbaked cinnamon roll that had been shaped into a heart.  I decided to take on the challenge of recreating this sweet treat for my family.  How hard could it be?    

The heart shaped cinnamon roll proved to be harder than I thought it would be.  I tried several different methods to get the cinnamon rolls to hold their heart shape and after several failed attempts, I finally found one that worked.  (Not that anyone complained about having to eat 2 batches of rolls that didn't look like hearts.) 



I used one of my favorite cinnamon roll recipes for my Valentine treats.  (I think that it was originally a Martha Stewart recipe.)  It's an oldie but goodie.

Cinnamon Rolls
½ cup flour                                      Filling
5 teaspoons yeast                            1 cup brown sugar
½ cup warm water                          5 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon brown sugar             1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 ¾ cup warm water                       1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
5-5 ¾ cups flour  
¼ cup butter                                    Icing
1 Tablespoon cinnamon                  1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons salt                               1 Tablespoon half and half
                                                        1 teaspoon vanilla

 
In mixer, combine ½ c. flour, yeast, brown sugar and ½ cup water.  Let stand 15 minutes.








Add 1 ¾ cups water, 1 cup flour, butter, cinnamon and salt.  Beat.

 











Add remaining flour.  Beat 5 minutes.  Let rest 15 minutes.

















Preheat oven to 400.  Combine filling ingredients.




 

Roll dough to a 20x12” rectangle.


Sprinkle filling over dough.


Roll up starting with a long side.

 
Slice into 1” slices and place on baking sheets.  I cut a v in the top of each roll with scissors to make it look more like a heart.


In another batch, I put a marble in the top of each roll to help maintain the heart shape during baking.


Neither or these two methods worked very well.  The rolls with the marbles really didn't maintain their nice heart shape while they baked. 


The rolls with the v cut into the top were better but still not perfect. 




I decided to give it one more try and for the last batch I rolled the short sides in to meet in the center before slicing.


Bake 20 minutes at 400.


Success!!!


Stir together icing ingredients and drizzle over rolls.


These cinnamon rolls were exactly what I had pictures in my mind


To make them extra special for my Valentine's, I sprinkled a few sprinkles on top of my heart shaped cinnamon rolls.


My sweet daughter ate 3 of these after soccer practice yesterday afternoon.  That's all the thanks I need. 

Ciao!


Cinnamon Rolls
½ cup flour                                      Filling
5 teaspoons yeast                            1 cup brown sugar
½ cup warm water                          5 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon brown sugar             1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 ¾ cup warm water                       1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
5-5 ¾ cups flour  
¼ cup butter                                    Icing
1 Tablespoon cinnamon                  1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons salt                               1 Tablespoon half and half
                                                        1 teaspoon vanilla

In mixer, combine ½ c. flour, yeast, brown sugar and ½ cup water.  Let stand 15 minutes.  Add 1 ¾ cups water, 1 cup flour, butter, cinnamon and salt.  Beat.  Add remaining flour.  Beat 5 minutes.  Let rest 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400.  Combine filling ingredients.  Roll dough to a 20x12” rectangle.  Sprinkle filling over dough.  Roll up starting with a long side.  Slice into 1” slices and place on baking sheets.  Bake 20 minutes at 400.  Stir together icing ingredients and drizzle over rolls.








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