- 1 pkg. regular dry yeast
- 1 cup warm milk or non-dairy substitute
- 1/3 cup sunflower or safflower oil
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 4-5 cups bread flour
- 1/2 teaspoon real almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cool water
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- optional: 1 cup pecans or hazelnuts, whole or chopped
- optional: 1/2 cup raisins or currants or dried cranberries
Mix yeast, liquid, oil, and sugar with 1 or 2 cups of the flour, just enough to make it real thick like pudding but still very moist. Mix thoroughly, cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let it sit in the bowl in a warm place till it's about double size. This could be anywhere from a half hour to 3 hours; stir it down now and then if you think of it. When you get around to it, whip the egg whites till they start to get thick -- not like meringue but just starting to get thick. Beat that into the bread mix and add the almond and salt. Start adding in the rest of the flour. Don't measure it, or you'll screw it up. All flours are different, and the temp and humidity in your house will affect the measurement of the flour. The idea is to use AS LITTLE FLOUR AS POSSIBLE but get beyond the sticky dough to a soft non-sticky dough. Dump the bread dough out onto a floured surface (board or countertop) and knead it, turning and working the dough and pushing it around till you've incorporated just enough flour -- but not too much. Cover the dough with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let it rest again, till it's about double in size. Knead it again, working it hard, then cover it up and let it rest again -- at least 20 minutes or till you get back to deal with it. Roll the dough out to about one inch thick, then sprinkle it with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla mixed with water. Add fruits or nuts if you want. Roll the dough up into a "tube," making it as tight as you can by stretching the dough a bit as you roll it up. Coat a baking pan with non-stick spray -- the pan should be at least two inches deep. (At this point if you want to be decadent, you can add blobs of butter or margarine plus more brown sugar to the bottom of the pan for that gooey sticky-bun effect. They're still good rolls if you don't do that.) Cut the roll of dough with a sharp knife, and make the slices at least one inch thick. I cut mine almost two inches thick. Tuck them into the pan so they're touching each other, and sprinkle the top surface of the rolls very lightly with cool water. Turn your oven on to 200 or so. Use your hands to very gently push the rolls down a bit, so the tops of all the rolls are kind of flattened in the pan and they're all even in height. The tops should be moist; sprinkle on just a little more water if they're not. Put them in the oven and shut the heat off (crack the door if necessary, it should be warm in there but not hot). Go away for a while till the rolls are twice their original height, or almost that tall, then turn the oven on to 350. Don't overbake the rolls -- you can pull a piece to the side to check doneness in the middle, but the best way to tell if they're done is to look at the bottoms of the rolls (using a glass baking dish obviously helps with this). If they're just light golden brown, they're probably done, depending on how thick you made them. When you take them out of the oven, put them on a wire rack to cool, and brush them down with a little honey or maple syrup while they're still warm (or use the more traditional powdered sugar icing). Try really hard to not eat the whole pan by yourself -- sharing is good.
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Cinnamon Rolls
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