Make it a good morning! Or afternoon... or evening... or 4am snack...

I really take issue with the overly sweet and sticky cinnamon rolls that you buy at the mall or pop out of a can. I'll be the first to admit that I'm drawn to the smell of cinnamon and sugar like a moth to a flame, but the times when I actually have eaten them I've found myself feeling a tad ill.

In an attempt to right this wrong and give these classic treats a sophisticated revamp, I decided to try making cinnamon rolls from scratch. Most recipes call for yeast and therefore require a lot of time (not to mention the proper environment for rising), but I found a few that use baking soda instead. Much better for those non-pioneer housewives among us.

To spice it up a little, I decided to add espresso to the dough - 5 Tbsp, just enough to be a subtle undertone. Too bad it was completely useless, there was absolutely no espresso flavor that I could detect in the finished product! I did add brewed espresso because I didn't want to be chewing on beans, so maybe it would be better if I had added espresso powder to the filling or even the dough. Another variation I want to try is adding Nutella to the dough and/or cocoa powder to the filling instead of cinnamon. Chocolate chips could be interesting too...

I also didn't add the cream cheese frosting, mostly because I didn't have cream cheese and I also didn't want them to be super rich. My roommates insisted, however, that frosting would have made them even more excellent, so I included the recipes for both cream cheese frosting and a thinner milk glaze!

If you're interested in the bread flour the recipe calls for, it is described as "a high-gluten flour that has very small amounts of malted barley flour and vitamin C or potassium bromate added. The barley flour helps the yeast work, and the other additive increases the elasticity of the gluten and its ability to retain gas as the dough rises and bakes." I substituted all-purpose flour and didn't get quite as light a roll as I'd hoped, so I think the results would be better if you could get your hands on bread flour.

No-Yeast 
Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted from Sugarlaws


Ingredients:

Dough
1 C warm milk
2 eggs
1/3 C butter, softened
4 1/2 C bread flour
1/2 C sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder

Filling
1 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp water (eliminate if you’re opening a new package of brown sugar)
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar
OR
Milk Glaze
3 Tbsp milk
2 C powdered sugar

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the dough ingredients together in a large mixing bowl using your hands, mixing thoroughly until the dough forms a large ball. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, butter, water and cinnamon. Stir to make combine completely.
Divide the dough in half and roll/press each part into an approximately 6" by 10" rectangle. Spread the cinnamon mixture to cover the dough completely. Roll each rectangle into a tight cylinder, then slice off the ends to make clean edges. Cut each into 8 slices and place in a baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray.

Bake the rolls until just start to turn golden, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together ingredients for either glaze or cream cheese frosting. Frost/glaze before rolls cool completely. Serve warm and gooey!