One of the highlights of a chill fall morning is hot cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven. These are perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea. They're also not that hard to bake.
Regular contributor Claire Saffitz wrote about them and gave the recipe in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday food section. . Hers are a bit different. The twist is the addition of Specaloos, a spicy molasses based snap cookie.It gives it a different taste that makes the buns memorable. She also uses scalded milk which gives the rolls a pillowy texture. This allows specific proteins to denature. Without scalding these same proteins inhabit the development of gluten. You need a lot fo gluten for this . They react with the yeast which produces a light airy texture. Biting into the rolls willbe like biting into clouds. She also added a rouxlike mixture of flour and milk called tangzhuong. Thsi is what gives Japanese milk bread and other Asian breads that soft, spongy testure. Use a stand mixer to mix and knead the dough/
As for the cinnamon, mix it with the specaloos to cut back on the earthy spice flavor,. these won;t be so intense flavor. If you can't find them then add windmill cookies or even graham crackers. Just make sure that all three are pulsed into fine crumbs.Don't add sugar either. These will make the rolls too sweet. The frosting is sweet enough . The dough is rolled out and then thethe filling is added. The rolls are cut with a thread and then baked with aluminum foil over them. This keeps in the moisture. Let cool and then frost with a standard cream cheese frosting.
These are a different cinnamon roll. They are light and tasty with a different texture. Try them on a cool fall day.
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