Cimmmmmanon…mmm…

It has been a month since I’ve updated this blog. And sadly, I must confess that I haven’t really baked much since my last update! *gasp* Not entirely true. But my camera has been with my parents in China.

Today’s post is on the cinnamon roll muffins that I made yesterday. I’m currently in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) for three weeks, and I had been talking to the residents about cinnamon buns. I always have a craving for them. I’ve pretty much had a craving for them since my last post, on Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon buns. I have loved cinnamon buns since a young age, my mom and I used to get them at cinnzeo as a special treat. I used to say “cimmanon” on purpose. However, they are expensive at cinnzeo and much easier and just as tasty to make. The Pioneer Woman ones are to DIE for!!! However, if I had them as often as I craved them, they might literally be to die for. That, and the fact they take four hours to make are the major deterrents for why I don’t get cinnamon buns all the time.

Jon (one of the residents) shared a recipe with me for cinnamon buns that are not quite made from scratch, and only take a little prep time and 20 minutes to bake! AMAZING! But I didn’t have any frozen dinner rolls and didn’t get a chance to pick some up. So what’s a girl to do when she gets an intense craving for cinnamon rolls without dinner rolls and without 4 hours to make them from scratch?

You make Cinnamon Roll Muffins in the morning. I love this recipe! It took less than an hour from start to finish, so I made it before going to work friday morning. They have a cinnamony taste on the top, and a slightly more muffiny texture on the bottom. And I love them. Did I mention I love them? The nurses and residents seemed to love them to. I brought the tray to work, and it was sitting empty at the end of the day with a post-it note that said “please refill”.

So make some of these today. They’re not time consuming. They’re not hard to make. And they will definitely satisfy. <3

Cinnamon Roll Muffins (adapted from joythebaker.com) Makes 12 muffins.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine – I ran out of milk and used almond milk)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling/Topping

2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cardamom

Do NOT preheat your oven! However, grease a muffin tin before starting.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.

While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly. Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips or swirl with a spatula. I swirled it and made sure it incorporated well with the top of the dough.

Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top will probably still be bubbling.

Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread. Or leave them be and devour them.

Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.

On those that ellicit “primal groans”

I made these cinnamon buns to bring to our halfway point session for family medicine. It’s a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and her website is funny and cute and has lovely lovely recipes on it.

Joff helped me make them, and he was SO excited when they came out of the oven. You have no idea the joy.

The whole house filled up with delicious cinnamony smells. I thought about making a cream cheese frosting for them, but this maple-coffee glaze is perfectly lovely and compliments the cinnamon buns wonderfully. On Pioneer Woman’s website, she describes these cinnamon buns as elliciting “primal groans of pure joy rising through the rooftops” and boy, there definitely were! Make some. They seem like they take a long time, but really it’s just a whole bunch of waiting around that’s the main problem. So start making them before dinner, and let them rise throughout dinner. You’ll be done in no time. And enjoy them.

The recipe for the cinnamon buns is on her website, I won’t post it here because I followed it step-by-step and made no changes. Here they are!

The glaze I wasn’t as well-behaved on and changed it how I saw fit.
Maple frosting:
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cappucino powder dissolved in water
2 tbsp maple syrup
lots of powdered sugar (I didn’t measure, I just poured til the consistency and taste was right)
a drizzle of irish cream coffee whitener

They were still delicious when I brought them to the university the next day, but boy…few things in life beat these cinnamon buns when they were hot out of the oven. make them. eat them. now.

Southgate

Today was the grand re-opening of a mall close to my house, Southgate. It was like a zoo broke out. People were swarming like bees and it took us 20 minutes to find parking. RIDICULOUS! There were at least 5000 people in the mall. I developed an acute case of claustrophobia during the hour that we were inside. I also wasn’t one of the first 1000 people in line to get a goodie bag =(

Through the insanity that is Southgate, my mother saw the newly reopened Cinnzeo store and had a craving for cinnamon buns. However, there was no way I was sticking around in that giant crowded crazyfest! So I promised her cinnamon buns once we got home…

Et voila! I love this recipe. They’re probably not the best cinnamon buns in the world, but they are pretty darn delicious. And so easy to make. Unlike some recipes that need you to let the dough rise overnight, etc. etc…this one takes like an hour in total. Or would take an hour in total if my mother didn’t insist that I run out and buy raisins because we didnt’ have any in the house and the cinnamon buns just weren’t complete without raisins. -_- My mom’s already eaten two and a half. And she’s pretty picky with my baking.

I don’t remember where this recipe is from. Somewhere online. I’m going to repost it and hope that no one gets mad at me =)

Cinnamon bun goodness
Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine, softened
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine, softened

Directions:
1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, softened margarine.
4. Roll out dough into a 12×9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with margarine/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Remove from muffin cups to cool. Serve warm.

I made a cream cheese frosting to go on top…half a block of cream cheese, some cinnamon, some vanilla extract, some icing sugar…ermm…I just eyeballed all of it until it tasted yummy. Blend and spread! DEVOUR!