Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

I've always, always loved cinnamon. My mother often made cinnamon bread, and if she didn't have enough time to bake it, she'd cut it into rolls that took less time to bake. And I loved them even more than the cinnamon bread although the ingredients were the same. But there's something irresistible in that nice sugary crust on top and gooey, caramelized bottom side.
I still have this obsession with cinnamon. I love cinnamon anything. There must be something subconcious as well, because the other day I grabbed a bottle from the spice cupboard, thinking it was paprika, only to realize a few seconds later that I had added a generous amount of cinnamon to the chicken stew. Managed to remove part of it, but it still tasted sweet and cinnamon-y. However, that was a bit too much even for me.
Back to these cinnamon rolls. Since my mom's recipe was never written in any form, not even the most basic (she never actually measured anything, she simply made all yeast doughs "feeling them") I didn't know where to start from. One thing I know for sure is that her dough was made with eggs, and I think she used oil instead of butter both in the dough and for the filling.
When a couple years ago I saw this recipe for buttermilk cinnamon rolls, I finally gathered the courage to try making them. I never thought I would ever get even near my moms rolls, but the result was far beyond any of my expectations.
I've tried other recipes later, and they were good, but always went back to my favourite one.
Why? Because such a soft, fluffy dough that feels light like a feather, despite the abundance of butter and sugar, is just amazing. I totally lose every form of self-control when a pan full of those gorgeous things is out of the oven. And almost religiously get my tongue burnt every time, because I can't wait for them to cool, I always eat the first one immediately. And who do you think ate all the eight rolls from this picture between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning? It wasn't mice for sure.
Although this recipe makes approximately 16 rolls, I made only half the batch, for my own sake. But now I'm sorry I didn't make the whole batch and freeze part of it. Shame on me, really, because one just can't live without a goodness like this at least every now and then without running the risk of gobbling down the whole pan, hot from the oven.
... in the next episode... making up for all this sugar greediness. Stay tuned for the most delicious zucchini and chickpeas recipe.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls
(adapted from Culinary Alchemy blog)

Dough:
* 520 g flour
* 1 package dry yeast
* 3 TBspoons sugar
* a pinch of salt
* 470 ml buttermilk
* 35 g butter


filling:
* 150 g brown sugar
* 1,5 TBspoons ground cinnamon
* 55 g butter

Scald the buttermilk, remove from heat, add the butter and the sugar, and set aside to cool.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the salt and the dry yeast, whisk everything together.
Add the liquid ingredients (cooled) and mix together with a wooden spoon or with an electric mixer.
Transfer on a floured kneading board and knead shortly. The dough should be rather soft and just lightly sticky when kneading.
Put it back into a clean bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Take the dough and divide it into two parts.
Roll each part of the dough into a rectangle, more or less 20x25 cm (I like to roll the dough out even more thinly).
Work the softened butter into cream with a spoon or a fork. Spread half of the butter on each rectangle of the dough.
Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter.
Roll the rectangles into a logs and slice each one into 8 pieces (approx. 3 to 3,5 cm thick).




Line the bottom of a baking pan with a piece of parchment paper and grease it lightly.
Put the rolls in slightly apart with the cut side up.
Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for an hour.
Bake them in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 30 minutes.

Ho provato diverse ricette per le girelle alla cannella, le famose cinnamon rolls Americane, ma questa è la mia preferita in assoluto. Niente uova nell'impasto. Solo latticello e tanto burro per un risultato irresistibile. 
Se siete amanti della cannella, dovete assolutamente prepararle almeno una volta, e poi ditemi che non vi siete innamorati a primo morso.
La ricetta viene dal blog Culinary Alchemy.


Girelle alla cannella con il latticello


Pasta:
* 520 g di farina "0"
* 1 bustina di lievito di birra secco
* 3 cucchiai di zucchero
* un pizzico di sale
* 470 ml di latticello (buttermilk)
* 35 g burro


ripieno:
* 150 g zucchero di canna
* 1,5 cucchiai di cannella in polvere
* 55 g burro


Scaldate il latticello quasi fino a farlo bollire. Toglietelo dal fuoco e unite il burro e lo zucchero. Mescolate bene perché si sciolgono e lasciate intiepidire.
Setacciate la farina in una ciotola, unite il sale e il lievito di birra. Mescolate con una frusta, poi unite la parte liquida (burro e latticello). Impastate con un cucchiaio di legno o usando il mixer elettrico fino a ottenere un impasto omogeneo. Trasferitelo su una spianatoia infarinata e lavoratela ancora per qualche minuto.
Mettete la pasta in una ciotola pulita, copritela e lasciatela lievitare in un luogo caldo per 30 minuti.
Riprendete la pasta, dividetela in due parti e stendete ciascuno in un rettangolo di circa 20x25 cm o poco più grande.
Lavorate il burro morbido in crema e spalmate metà su ogni rettangolo di pasta.
Mescolate lo zucchero di canna con la cannella e cospargeteli in maniera abbondante sopra il burro.
Arrotolate la pasta partendo dal lato più lungo e tagliate ciascun rotolo in 8 pezzi da circa 3-3,5 cm.
Ricoprite il fondo di una teglia con un pezzo di carta da forno e sistematevi delle girelle.
Coprite la teglia e lasciate lievitare le girelle per 1 ora in un luogo caldo.
Riscaldate il forno a 180°C e cuocetele per circa 30 minuti. 

Moj omiljeni recept za rolnice s cimetom koji sam prije par godina otkrila na blogu Culinary Alchemy. Tijesto je tako lagano i pahuljasto da morate voditi rat sami sa sobom da ih prestanete jesti. Bogato su nadjevene maslacem koji se tijekom pečenja otopi i tijesto ga potpuno upije što tijesto čini dodatno mekanim. Obilno posute šećerom i cimetom, koji se tijekom pečenja velikim dijelom istopi i karamelizira na dnu rolnica. Ne znam koliko sam vam dočarala ove rolnice, ali vjerujte mi, probate li ih samo jedanput nećete požaliti, naprotiv, vraćat ćete im se često.
Mlaćenica je tekućina koja se izdvoji pri proizvodnji maslaca. Govorila sam vam o tome kod recepta za domaći maslac. U prodaji se također može naći mlaćenica s dodatkom bakterijskih kultura. U Hrvatskoj je možete naći pod nazivom Stepko. Ako je pak ne možete naći lako ćete kod kuće pripremiti brzinsku zamjenu: Na 250 ml mlijeka dodajte žlicu limunovog soka ili octa, ostavite da stoji 15 minuta, a zatim dobro izmiješajte i koristite odmah. Ili pomiješajte mlijeko i jogurt u omjeru 1:3, tj. 1/4 mlijeka i 3/4 jogurta.

Cimet rolnice s mlaćenicom


Tijesto:
* 520 g brašna za dizana tijesta
* 1 vrećica suhog kvasca
* 3 žlice šećera
* prstohvat soli
* 470 ml mlaćenice
* 35 g maslaca


punjenje:
* 150 g smeđeg šećera
* 1,5 žlica cimeta u prahu
* 55 g maslaca


Zagrijte mlaćenicu skoro do vrenja.
Maknite s vatre, dodajte šećer i maslac, dobro izmiješajte pjenjačom pa ostavite da se ohladi, tj. dok ne postane mlačno.
Stavite u zdjelu prosijano brašno, sol i suhi kvasac.
Dodajte ohlađenu smjesu maslaca i mlaćenice i izradite tijesto kuhačom ili mikserom, a onda rukama na malo pobrašnjenoj dasci. Tijesto treba biti mekano i pomalo ljepljivo, ali ne previše, naravno.
Stavite tijesto u čistu zdjelu, pokrijte i ostavite da se diže na toplom mjestu 30 minuta.
Podijelito dignuto tijesto na dva dijela i svaki razvaljajte posebno na pravokutnik otprilike 20x25 cm.
Maslac koji ste ostavili na sobnoj temperaturi da odmekne, izradite vilicom da bude kremast pa premažite cijelu površinu tijesta.
Smeđi šećer pomiješajte s cimetom i pospite obilno preko maslaca.
Smotajte tijesto u rolnicu počevši od duže stranice.
Izrežite svaku rolnicu na osam komada (debljine oko 3-3,5 cm)
Složite ih u malo namašten pleh (ja sam ga također obložila papirom za pečenje jer šećer se topi i karamelizira na dnu pa se rolnice mogu zalijepiti) malo razmaknute jedna od druge.
Pokrijte pleh i ostavite rolnice da se dižu 1 sat.
U međuvremenu zagrijte pećnicu na 180°C i pecite ih oko 30 minuta.