Friday, May 30, 2008

Amazing Buns




These were so good they deserved their own post :)


The chef's at Cook's Illustrated took their original recipe and tried many variations until they found the perfect combination of ingredients that tasted great while still being light.


I rarely "really" bake- I like boxed items (brownies, cakes, etc)- so I was feeling the pressure. It requires yeast, making a dough, rolling it... all things I never do :) Thankfully MomE and Auntie P bought me a 11c Cuisinart food processor with dough blade for Christmas. That made it much easier.




From Cook's Illustrated- Light Recipes Spring 2008




Guilt Free Cinnamon Rolls- 250c per roll (14 rolls made, 12 rolls iced- I scrapped the ends)

*Depending on the humidity the dough may need up to 1/4c extra flour

Dough
Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/3c warm skim milk (110 degrees-- I actually took out my thermometer for this one)
3T Maple Syrup
2T unsalted butter, melted
3.5c unbleached all purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
1 package rapid-rise or instant yeast
1t table salt

Filling
1/2c (3.5 oz) packed dark brown sugar
1/4c (1.75oz) granulated sugar
2t ground cinnamon
1/8t table salt
1T unsalted butter

Icing
1c (4oz) confectioners sugar
4T light cream cheese (I only had 1/3fat, which added fat and calories to the recipe)
1T skim milk
1/2t vanilla extract

Dough:
1) Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 200 degrees. Once heated turn off. Lightly grease large bowl with cooking spray. Coat 13x9 dish with cooking spray.
2) Mix milk, syrup, and melted butter together in large measuring cup. Mix flour, yeast, and salt together in food processor (or mixer with dough hook). Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together increase speed to medium and mix until shiny smooth (4-6m) Dough will be sticky, if it seems too wet add additional flour. Turn dough ball onto heavily floured work surface, shape into a ball and place in greased bowl. Cover and let rest in warm oven for 10m.

3) For filling. While dough is resting mix sugars, cinnamon, salt and melted butter in medium bowl until incorporated.

4) To make rolls. On lightly floured work surface, roll dough into 18x12 inch rectangle with long side facing you. Sprinkle sugar mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2in border. Lightly press sugar into dough. Starting at the edge nearest you begin rolling dough. Brush border with water, and press dough to seal.

5) Using a chef's knife (thanks to TE we have one!), slice dough into 12 rounds (I made 14), then place in prepared pan with cut side up. Cover pan with plastic wrap coated with nonstick spray and return to warm oven until buns have doubled in size (30-40min)

6) Remove pan from oven and heat to 350. Remove plastic wrap and bake buns until they are deep brown (20-25m), rotating pan front to back halfway through baking (oops, I forgot to to that...)

7) For the icing. Whisk sugar, cream cheese, milk and vanilla together until smooth. Turn rolls out onto a rack, flip the right side up, cool 10m then spread icing over buns. Serve hot or warm.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

These WERE amazing and delicious and definitely deserved their own post! Thank you so much for making them - they were awesome!!!

When I can feed more than just myself, I will have to try them. It will certainly be an adventure (but we actually do have a dough hook)!

rachel