A friend of mine recently landed a new job, so in celebration of that, I decided to bake him something special. At his request, he wanted homemade cinnamon rolls. So, I searched the baking blogs in search of the perfect simple recipe that would be easy to follow for an amateur baker like myself. After finding a couple different recipes I thought seemed easy enough, I found the blog Minimalist Baker (minimalistbaker.com) and fell in love with their site. Not only are a majority of their recipes newbie friendly, but both creators Dana and John, stress the importance of using 10 ingredients or less and one bowl, minimal, hence their blog name.
Anyways thanks to Dana and John, my first experience with cinnamon rolls was a hit! I was very happy with the way the rolls came out. I will be making another batch tonight for my sister before she heads on her road trip with friends.
Easy Cinnamon Rolls via Minimalist Baker
(Source – http://minimalistbaker.com/the-worlds-easiest-cinnamon-rolls/)
What You’ll Need:
1 packet of instant yeast
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup of Earth Balance (vegan butter), divided
1/4 tablespoon salt
3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
Instructions
First combine the almond milk and 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, heat ingredients but do not bring it to a boil. Heat until butter is melted, and then let cool to 110 degrees, or the temp of bath water. (I did not use a cooking thermometer, I just used my finger to test the warmth)
Pour almond milk and butter mixture into a medium size mixing bowl, and sprinkle with one packet of instant yeast
Let yeast activate for 10 minutes, before adding 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1/4 tablespoon of salt.
Next add 1/2 cup of flour at a time as you mix ingredients together. The dough will eventually become too sticky to mix and you will have to roll/knead into a ball. Knead the dough for about one minute, shaping it into a ball.
Once you have your dough kneaded into a ball, place plastic wrap on top of bowl and let dough rise for one hour, or until the dough is double the size
After the hour is up, flour a clean surface and roll out the dough into a thin rectangle
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and brush on top of rolled out dough (Optional – I added a tiny drop of vanilla to my butter before I melted it in the microwave)
After you’ve brushed butter on, sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
Starting on one end, tightly roll the dough and situate seam down
Then with a serrated knife, cute dough into 1.5 – 2 inch sections
Place rolls into a pan (I used 8×8), and sprayed it with Trader Joe’s Coconut Oil Spray before placing rolls inside
Brush the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted Earth Balance butter on top of the rolls and preheat oven to 350 degrees
Bake rolls for 25-30 minutes, keep in mind every oven is different. I actually took my rolls out after 25 minutes of baking because I like them a little doughy
Once rolls are slightly golden brown, you are good to take them out, let cool for a few minutes then add frosting
For the frosting – in a separate bowl put in 1 and a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, add a splash of almond milk, and mix together
Spread frosting on top of cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Briana Veniana 