Day 15- Un-healthy

Day 15 and 300 hits from 7 different countries!!!! This has been an amazing experience so far, and although the past few days have been hard I don`t regret starting this challenge. So I was a busy little beaver today catching up on my baking, and of course for my last recipe I choose something a little harder. So after picking up my ingredients and going to breakfast with my mom, I got to spend a little time with my nephew before throwing myself into the kitchen and making 3 brand new recipes. Oh and if your just joining me, go back a couple posts, as I did 2 new posts before this one.


So when I was a kid, I think the most un-healthy thing I ate was sticky buns. They were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, warm and had the sugary glaze on top. Now that I am older, my stomach shows me that the sugar desserts don`t work all the time. So I chose sticky buns, but the result was actually a very good bun that's not sugar-rush sweet, its still warm and soft, but your teeth don`t hurt eating it.

Cinnamon Rolls

4¾ to 5¼ cups flour

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 eggs

¾ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/3 cup butter

½ cup golden raisins (optional)

½ cup chopped pecans (optional)

1 tablespoon half and half or light cream

1 recipe Vanilla Glaze

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 ¼ cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat and stir milk, 1/3 cup butter, granulated sugar, and salt just until warm (120 F to 130 F) and butter almost melts; add to flour mixture along with eggs. Beat with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds scraping bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into ball. Place in a greased bowl; turn once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled (1 hour).

Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease 2 9x1½-inch round or square baking pans or 2 baking sheets; set aside. For filling, stir together brown sugar, the ¼ cup flour, and cinnamon; cut in 1/3 cup butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Roll each half of dough into 12x8-inch rectangle. Sprinkle filling over dough rectangles. If desired, sprinkle with raisins and/or pecans. Roll up each rectangle starting from a long side. Seal seams. Slice each roll into 12 pieces. Place cut sides down in prepared pans or baking sheets.

Cover; let rise in warm place till doubled (about 30 minutes).

Brush dough with half and half. Bake in 375F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until light brown. If necessary cover with foil for last 5 to 10 minutes to avoid over browning. Remove from oven. Brush again with half and half. Cool for 1 minute. Carefully invert rolls onto a wire rack. Cool slightly. Invert again onto a serving platter. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze. Serve warm.

 

 

Vanilla Glaze

In a small bowl stir together 1 ¼ cups of icing sugar, 1 teaspoon light corn syrup, and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Add enough half and half or light cream (few tablespoons) to reach drizzle consistency


Tips:
This dough is very sticky, so wash you hands and use them to mix. It will make it a lot easier than using an electric mixer.



 

Combine yeast and dough.

Pour warm milk mixture over flour and yeast.

Form dough in to ball and place in greased bowl.

Roll dough half's in to 12x8-inch rectangles.

Sprinkle cinnamon and raisins/pecans over dough.

Roll dough and cut into 12 slices, lay in pan. To help seal dough seam wet finger tips and pinch dough.

Brush with half and half when they come out of the oven.

Glaze should be thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough to hold it`s forms.

Nothing is better than a warm sticky bun.

Tips:

Again, use your hands to mix when adding as much flour as possible. The dough is sticky and will climb your electric mixer. You can also use the 200F to help the dough rise like I used with white bread. Anytime you need yeast to rise set your oven at 200F, cover dough, place in oven, and turn the oven off. This creates the perfect warm spot to help the yeast rise.



These shoes are from my grade 8 graduation. I don`t have any marks on theses shoes. They go with my gorgeous gown that I need to find a reason to wear again.

I did it! I`m all caught up on my challenges. I am so happy. Today showed me that I really need to keep on top of this, especially if I want to make a career out of this. it will only get harder, and I won`t be able to take a day here and there just cause my life gets busy. Yet with all the hard work, I still love being in the kitchen and baking. With all the baking I did today, it was never un-enjoyable. I loved every second of it.

Happy Baking!

Sey

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