[Recipe] Almond Cinnamon Rolls

I haven’t been blogging a heap lately! Mostly because all I seem to be baking is variations of sourdough. I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have the biggest sweet tooth – I could be happy just eating slices of sourdough slathered in vegemite every day.

But the other week I had a hankering for something a bit sweeter and not too complicated, so I made a batch of these Almond Cinnamon rolls! They’re a soft sweet bread, made with eggs and milk, and a lot quicker to whip up than my usual bread recipes. The dough is quite a bit wetter than other bread dough, so I cheated and used my mixer with dough hooks rather than mixing by hand. But if you don’t have access to one of those, mixing by hand is perfectly fine (I’ve done it both ways now)… albeit a bit more messy.

Cinnamon rolls! Perfect for afternoon tea

Using my mixer with dough hooks

Rolling the dough out thinly on a floured board.

Cinnamon and almond filling. You can substitute any sort of chopped nuts you like (or omit if you prefer). Walnut or pecan would be nice!

Rolling up! Don’t roll too tightly otherwise the centres have a tendency to pop out while it bakes.

Dough! You can use a piece of string to chop it up neatly, or if you’re lazy like me and have no idea where the kitchen string is kept… just use a sharp knife.

Packed into an oven-proof dish

Left to rise

The photos above are a half portion (I divided the recipe below in half). Which made about 9 small rolls.

Almond Cinnamon Rolls

(adapted from Cinnamon Rolls and Clone of a Cinnabon recipes by BestRecipes.com.au and AllRecipes.com)

Dough

3 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (give it a 30 sec zap in the microwave, not too hot!)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups plain flour
2 cups wholemeal flour (optional… you can just use 4 cups plain flour if you like but I like the wholemeal taste)

Filling

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup almonds, crushed (I use a plastic bag and a rolling pin to bash them into bits)
3 tablespoons of cinnamon
1/3 cup softened butter

For topping I mixed together a few tablespoons of icing sugar with a tablespoon of water, and drizzled it on top before serving. A few other recipes call for a cream cheese icing sugar topping I think these are plenty sweet on their own… but by all means do give them a try if you like!

Method

For the dough:
Add all the dough ingredients to your mixer (if using) and use dough hooks to mix, or mix by hand until a smooth ball forms.

Cover your mixing bowl with clingwrap and leave in a warm place to rise until it doubles in size (approx 1 hour)

Turn dough out onto a floured board and roll out until 1cm thick

To make the filling:
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar, almonds and cinnamon and using a spoon, mix until smooth.

Spread the filling out onto your rolled dough

Roll up your dough into a long log. Cut into pieces.

Place your pieces into a lined or lightly greased tray, cover and let them rise again for another hour.

Right before you bake, paint your rolls with eggwash (optional)

Preheat your oven to 190˚C and bake for approx 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix up the topping as above and drizzle on top before serving.