Cinnamon Rolls
Hi.
Been trying with varying success to make a good cinnamon roll. Have been using a dinner roll recipe, adding butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Last night I made the new cinnamon roll recipe on Smitten Kitchen.
They were very good, and pretty simple. But (and here is my struggle) they came out pretty bready. As in they were like a dinner roll with cinnamon and sugar. I want a spongier, more… cake-like, maybe… texture.
i did ferment them overnight. I used KA AP flour. Maybe should have used white lily. But when I went to roll out the dough, it at first broke, as though there wasn’t enough gluten development. Then I kneaded it a bit, maybe 2 minutes. After that, it held up to being rolled.
Is texture all, or even mostly, a matter of handling? Or does this dough perhaps need further enrichment? I’m willing to tinker, but I’d like some advice as to how.
Try dropping the strength of the flower - and plan on experimenting. Less time and weaker flour should get ya started. Enjoy!
King Arthur Flour has a recipe for 'Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls' using Tang ZHong which are divine. The's also a video on Genius recipes on You Tube.
That recipe doesn't have any eggs, and I think, for the texture you want, that's just not going to work. Find a recipe with lots of eggs, especially yolks, and use that instead.
There are also recipes out there that use baking soda or powder instead of yeast, and I would expect those to give more cake-like results too.
zolablue's cinnamon rolls
Flour Child's ultimate cinnamon rolls
mountaindog's billowy sourdough cinnamon rolls
Gordon Family Cinnabon cinnanmon rolls clone
You might also want to check the cinnamon roll recipe in Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's one of my favorites.
Paul
This is my go-to cinnamon roll recipe, from Stella (Bravetart) at Serious Eats: One-Bowl, Overnight Cinnamon Rolls