Bramble & Spice

Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite special-occasion breakfasts. The addition of cardamom to the filling, the just-right texture of the dough, and the ability to make these up completely ahead of time make these hearty cinnamon rolls a house favorite.

This recipe does require advance planning. You will need to start at least two days, ideally three, before you plan on serving them. On day one you mix the dough. On day two you make the filling and roll the dough into a log. The log is frozen (for 1 hour) then sliced, placed in a baking dish, and then frozen solid. On day three you pull the cinnamon rolls out of the freezer before going to bed. You can combine days two and three as long as the cinnamon rolls have enough time to freeze solid before they’re pulled back out again. On day two, I like to freeze the log for about one hour before slicing. This is to make the log easy to slice and handle. You could skip this step and use something like dental floss to slice the log directly after you roll it. Or you could chill it in the refrigerator until it is firm enough to slice easily. I don’t mind taking the extra time to make them easy to slice and handle. Once the rolls are sliced and ready in the baking dish you could proof them and bake them, if you wanted. Alternatively, you could also refrigerate them, and pull them out in the morning to proof and bake. This will just take a lot more time in the morning. I really like being able to freeze them because it means I can make them up well ahead of time and it makes it super simple the day of. All of the work is done ahead of time. On the morning you plan on eating them, all you have to do is put them in the oven.

I like baking cinnamon rolls in cake pans because I like the crispier edges that come from more of the rolls being in direct contact with the sides of the pan. It also allows me to bake fewer cinnamon rolls at once. There is only two of us, so we really don’t need to be staring down 12 rolls at one time. I can pull out just one cake pan of cinnamon rolls at a time. My freezer is also on the smaller side, so I would have trouble fitting anything too large in there. These cinnamon rolls are pretty hefty and I typically can fit 5 in a cake pan. Feel free to use whatever baking dish you prefer, just make sure you are giving the rolls enough space to expand in the oven. Whatever baking dish or pan that you choose, make sure you have a plate or serving dish large enough that you can invert the cinnamon rolls onto it.

The glaze recipe is calibrated for using cake pans. What I have listed below is enough for one cake pan. I typically will fill two cake pans (5 rolls in each pan), so I am repeating the glaze recipe for each cake pan. This leaves me with two rolls leftover that I put in a smaller baking dish, with about half the glaze quantities. If I were to bake the rolls in a 9×13 pan, I would probably double the glaze. The quantities for the glaze are fairly loose, I wouldn’t worry too much about whether your ratio of glaze to cinnamon rolls is exactly right. As long as you’ve got some butter and sugar in there, it’s going to be delicious.

If you prefer your cinnamon rolls with a frosting instead of the glaze, then skip the addition of the glaze ingredients and just grease your baking dish as you normally would, bake the rolls, and leave them in the pan (rather than inverting them). Serve them with your favorite frosting recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls

Yield: 12 rolls

Dough:

1 T yeast

2 cups cold milk

½ cup boiling water

2 Tb sugar

2 ⅓ cup AP Flour

1 T salt

2 cups AP Flour

2 oz unsalted butter, very soft

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water and milk. Whisk in the yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes. With the whisk attachment, add the first measurement of flour and sugar to make the sponge. Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Cover the sponge and let proof for one hour or until bubbly.

With the dough hook attachment, combine the sponge, the remaining flour, and the butter. Add the salt and mix until very smooth, pliable, and just barely sticky. While mixing, make sure to stop and scrape up any dry bits around the side and bottom of the bowl. Gradually add extra flour, if necessary, 1 Tb at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Let the mixer run between each addition.

Transfer the dough to a large, clean bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Filling:

8 oz unsalted butter, very soft

1 ½ cup brown sugar

2 Tb sugar

3 Tb cinnamon

1 ½ Tb cardamom

Pinch salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream all of the filling ingredients together until well combined.  The mixture should be very soft so that it is easy to spread.

Pull the dough from the fridge and dust a piece of parchment paper with flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle, 16-inches long and 12-inches wide. Spread the filling evenly across the dough, leaving about 1-inch clean on one long edge.

Starting with the long edge with filling, start rolling the dough into a log. Once the roll is started, use the parchment to roll the dough all the way forward (see pictures for what this looks like). Pinch the seam together and roll the dough so that it sits seam side down.

Use the parchment sling to transfer dough to a baking sheet or cutting board. Freeze the roll until the dough and the filling have firmed back up, at least 1 hour (but not frozen solid).

Prepare the dish you’ll bake the cinnamon rolls in (see note above about selecting a baking dish). Pour the melted butter into the dish and tilt the dish so that the butter coats the whole surface. Sprinkle with the brown sugar. Slice into 12 rolls and place in the prepared baking dish. Wrap the dish in plastic wrap or cover with a lid and freeze.

The night before you plan to eat your cinnamon rolls, pull the frozen rolls out of the freezer and leave them out overnight to thaw on the counter. Remove the plastic wrap or lid and cover with a clean towel. By the time you get up in the morning (in approximately 6-8ish hours), they will be thawed and proofed. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, until the rolls have browned nicely and the middle of the center roll feels fairly firm when pressed down upon. Let cool for 3-5 minutes. Place a plate or serving platter upside down over top of the cinnamon rolls. Very carefully, flip the cinnamon rolls upside down, inverting them onto the plate. Allow several more minutes to cool before serving.