Cinnamon Roll

Bread
Baking
Author

Luis HZ Paese

Published

April 1, 2023

Para a versão em português, clique aqui.

Cinnamon Roll

Sponge

The role of a sponge in bread making is not to activate the yeast, but to give it the strength it will need to rise with the next additions of flour and other ingredients, this is why the process of creating the sponge feeds the yeast with water and flour.

Ingredients

  • 1 + 1/4 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 5g of dry yeast (1 teaspoon)

Steps

  • Mix the flour and the yeast with a fork, and slowly start adding the water;
  • Start mixing to create a homogeneous mixture;
  • After mixing it up, leave it to rest for 1/2 hour to 1 hour (the time will depend on the temperature of the room, to allow the sponge to grow effectively);

Dough

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1/3 tablespoon of salt
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
    • The butter cannot be too cold, neither too hot, but it needs to be warm enough to be incorporated to the dough

Steps

  • Start mixing up the solid ingredients (flour, salt and sugar) and add the sponge to the mixture;
  • Add egg, and slowly start adding the milk (1/4 cup) to keep control of the dough humidity, also, give it time to mix the ingredients up and finalize this step by adding butter;
  • Continue mixing the ingredients and slowly continue adding the remaining milk:
    • The remaining quantity of milk might be too much, given that the absorption of humidity depends on the flour, the size of the egg used and other factors. So add only milk enough to make sure that the dough stay moist, not too dry neither too humid.
  • Knead the dough for a time between 10 to 15 minutes, this time might vary, specially if you are doing it by hand, but it is important that the dough reaches a point when it can be stretched without tearing apart;
  • Leave the dough to rest for 1 hour;

Filling

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon powder

Shape the dough

  • Strech the dough in a rectangular format, around 30cm by 45cm, the “height” of the rectangle will dictate how many turns will be done with this dough, while the “width” will determine how many Cinnamon rolls can be done with this amount of dough. This size of 35cm by 45cm makes between 9 and 10 Cinnamon rolls, with 3 turns with filling;
  • Spread butter on the open dough, leaving a part with no butter to “glue” the dough together later;
    • It is important to remember that the butter needs to be on ambient temperature, so it doesn’t disturb the growth of the dough, and make it easier to spread.
  • Add the filling on the area with butter of the dough;
  • Start “rolling-up” the dough, from the part with the filling to the end with no filling;
  • Cut the Cinnamon rolls with aproximatedely 3cm and place them on the tray that will be used to bake;
  • Let the rolls rest for 30 minutes before inserting it in the oven;

Baking

  • Set the oven to 180ºC (360º F);
  • Add the tray with the Cinnamon rolls;
  • Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until they reach a golden color;

Happy baking!