Monday, August 15, 2011

absolutely positively DELICIOUS maple cinnamon buns

These are amazing. AMAZING. I really wish I had a great camera to take pictures, or even better, a way to send one of these yummy cinnamon rolls over the internet and onto the desk in front of you. Everyone needs to be able to enjoy these :)

This recipe is adapted from the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls - they work so well as GF!

**I had the recipe for these typed up ages ago but unfortunately my hard drive is failing. So it's taken me a bit longer to finally post this.



courtesy of the Pioneer Woman Cooks!

Maple Cinnamon Buns



Ingredients

2 cups Milk (I always use Almond Milk, original)
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Sugar (You can use whatever kind of sugar, I love brown sugar!)
1 package Active Dry Yeast (7g)
5 cups GF flour blend (I used the usual Mama's Almond Blend but I really like using a corn meal blend...more experimenting and then a blog post to follow!)
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
2 Tablespoons Flax seed Meal
Boiling Water
Plenty Of Melted Butter (I use whatever dairy free one I can find - Currently I like Shedd's Willow Run)
More Sugar
Lots Of Cinnamon

MAPLE GLAZE:
1/2 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Milk
1/8 cup Melted Butter
1/8 cup Brewed Coffee
Pinch of Salt

For the rolls: Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Heat until just before the boiling point then turn off the heat and let it cool for 45 minutes to an hour. When it is lukewarm to the touch sprinkle in the Active Dry Yeast and let it sit for a few minutes.

While the yeast mixture sits boil a cup or two of water and then add a few tablespoons to the flax seed. This is your binding agent (I made this recipe without the flax seed, oops,and they still came out quite delicious! Just very crumbly). I usually use about 2 to 3 tablespoons, sometimes more. After sitting for a few minutes the consistency should be almost like Elmer's glue. Hehe.

Add 4 cups of flour to the yeast mixture along with the flax seed slurry and stir everything together. Cover it and let it rise for about an hour. After an hour add 1 more cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. If you don't need the dough right away you can store it in the fridge overnight.

To make the rolls: sprinkle surface with flour (I usually use corn meal). Roll the dough out on the floured surface into a rectangle making the dough as thin as you would like (sometimes I enjoy mine a bit thicker!) Drizzle the melted butter (about a quarter to half a stick) over the dough and spread it out. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar followed by cinnamon over the dough.

In a jelly roll fashion, roll the dough up (hot dog style) and pinch the seam to seal it. Cut the rolls about an inch thick and lay them into a cake or pie pan (spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray or use a bit of melted butter to coat the pan). I use a spring loaded pie pan that fits all the rolls. If you cut them smaller you may need two pans or a brownie pan.

Let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes then bake at 375 - 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. They should be golden brown on top.

For the glaze: Mix together all the ingredients until smooth. I make mine a bit runnier than I normally would with a glaze so sometimes a splash more of milk is needed. I also add more coffee or maple syrup depending on how I feel that day. Pour over the rolls while they are still quite warm.

It may seem like a lot of glaze but trust me, those babies will soak it up and that is exactly what makes these buns so delicious.