Cinnabombs

I know you wish you could bite this. Right now.

I remember the first time I had a Cinnabon. It was in a mall in Vancouver or Portland circa 1981. I had dreams about it for many years to come and it would take that long for a Cinnabons to come to Honolulu. But alas, the price tag always seemed rather steep, for one Cinnabon, and when you have four kids and a hungry husband, well, suffice it to say it just didn't happen very often.
So imagine my delight when I started dabbing into making my own homemade cinnamon rolls a few years ago. My family ended up naming my cinnamon rolls Cinnabombs. Because they were the bomb. Bomb-diggidy. The bomb.com as Kajla says.

Our neighbor, JW, lives in Colorado now and only comes home for Christmas. And he loves Cinnabombs. So I make it as a gift to him. And his family. And my family.

I want to share with all of you THE cinnabomb recipe that I used on Christmas morning at 5 am.  I found it at epicurious.com. I love that website and their iPhone app. I use it all the time.

(I read some of the reviews--always a great idea at epicurious--and one said she used regular yeast and it was fine so I did, too, she was right. Also, use the dough hook. And you can make it the night before and leave in fridge or freeze). It had a four forks rating out of four and many said it was the BEST ever.)

Cinnamon Rolls

Bon Appétit  | March 2008
by Molly Wizenberg

Ingredients
Dough:
   * 1 cup milk
   * 3 tablespoons butter
   * 3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
   * 1/2 cup sugar
   * 1 large egg
   * 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast (I used regular yeast and even though I got worried because it didn't rise as quickly as I had hoped, all is well that ends well)
   * 1 teaspoon salt
   * Nonstick vegetable oil spray (or just regular veggie oil in your bowl is fine)

Filling:
   * 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
   * 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
   * 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (modification: I used 1 stick and I semi melted it in the microwave so I wouldn't have to work so hard smoothing it out)

Preparation for dough: Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball. (my own modifications: I used the dough hook from the get go and I just did EVERYTHING in the bowl of my kitchenaid. Didn't knead ANYTHING but I did have to add probably an extra 1/2 cup of flour because it really seemed sticky).

here is the dough, in the oiled bowl

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For filling: Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.

Any kind of brown sugar will do. I have even done a half half brown sugar white sugar and it was great

Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle.

So now you know it's early (housecoat) and I only use real butter. Also I made a double batch of Cinnabombs this is the second batch because you can see the little extra -bombs on the bottom right of photo that wouldn't fit in with the first batch. You can also see my beautiful all clad flour container that I love!

Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter.

Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up.

With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide) (my modification - I use a rule and cut ever 1.5 inches).

Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

This is the first time I used parchment paper. No need to grease anything. Yay for easy clean up.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

For the frosting, I use a recipe that I found on the CopyKat Creations Recipes because it said Cinnabon Frosting. And it seriously tastes just like it. I halved the recipe as the original made the mother load of frosting.

Ingredients
1 stick butter, softened
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (or 1 1/2 pkgs.)
1/2 box (more or less to taste) powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

Allow butter and cream cheese to reach room temperature. Beat both together in a bowl (I use the whipping attachment rather than the paddle attachment). Slowly add in the other ingredients. Once it is combined, whip it for an additional 10 minutes or so until it is nice and fluffy.

I suppose I will continue to make modifications to the recipe and post the results here. But you have got to try it...I have added pecans before, someone suggested raisins (possibility but not in my raisin hating household). It's all going to be alright). Enjoy. And let me know how it turns out.

Prepping for the New Year, a.k.a. I have Issues

Okay, this is the part of my month that I am experiencing extreme irritability and it has nothing to do with the holiday season. I am also pondering the new year and all the resolutions to make my life healthier. And of course one of the top ones is to eat healthier. Hmmm...I think I have had that on my list before. And if I were to take a look at my posts I would venture to guess that most of my posts would fall into the NOT SO HEALTHY category. This this for example. Or this. I even took a perfectly healthy fish and turned it into a not so healthy dish by adding mayo and sausage. But I'm going to try to change my ways. I have a semi solid plan.
I have these books on my bookshelf:

 As well as a couple of Weight Watchers cookbooks and a whole slew of blogs available at my fingertips. Bye bye Paula Deen, hello Anne-Marie.

We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck. In the meantime I have a few more days of indulgences to go. It started last night with a dark chocolate fondue and the most delicious little bananas EVER. I'll see if I can post a couple dishes before the new year. For those of you who are into last minute splurges.