Ok, so I know I'm getting as bad as my cousins with my updating here, and when you only blog on a quarterly or bi-annual basis, there's just too much of life to even begin to write about. We all got well, went to Atlanta a few times, Bennett had 2 surgeries, Colin has become obsessed with fishing, the babies are in to everything, Misty came to visit, Silas turned 3, and Ansley is still coming up with wonderful things to say and do that has me questioning what I'm going to have deal with when she is a teenager. And Russ and I had an anniversary - #9. How is that possible? Time flies. So I'm going to update my cinnamon roll recipe, you know, the important stuff :)
I have been playing with this thing for years trying to make it more nutritious, because frankly, we love our cinnamon rolls. I make them once a week, and the white flour, white sugar version of old although quite tasty was going to immediately give all of us diabetes at some point, so I had to do something to it. After trying things with sweet potatoes, stevia, and all sorts of other things, I think I've settled on a recipe that is acceptable. I'm gonna be honest, it's too different from the original recipe to really compare it, but it had to be. There's no way I'm gonna make it taste like that using stuff that's actually good for you. But this is a pretty tasty substitute:
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use the White Wheat, because it's a little milder, and no I don't grind it myself. Yet. One day. Baby steps folks baby steps)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup whole buttermilk (sometimes I add a tablespoon or two if it seems too dry)
8 Tbsp butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup of rapadura (or coconut sugar)
cinnamon to taste. I probably use a couple of tablespoons because I love a strong cinnamon flavor.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix first 4 ingredients together.
Add oil and mix until crumbly (note: in case you aren't familiar with coconut oil, it is liquid when it's hot in your house [like 78 or so] and solid when it's cold. It mixes in a lot more evenly when in the liquid state, so if it's cold in your house I would recommend heating it on the STOVE until liquid).
Add buttermilk (which will make the coconut oil cool off and clump together, so it's important that you get it mixed in really good before you do this step. Or you can just have chunks of it. I've done this in the past, because I'm just lazy like that sometimes, and they turn out fine).
Knead for a few minutes, and then roll out. I roll it out really big so I can make lots of smaller sized cinnamon rolls instead of 8 big ones. This way we eat less, and since this is still sugar, although a healthier sugar, we don't need to just fall off the deep end here.
Spread the butter all over (softened or melted butter works best), then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon all over it, roll it up, slice it and put in a pie or cake pan to bake for approximately 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
When I made these today, I made 15 cinnamon rolls because I had rolled it out. So once everyone had had two, it was really like eating one of the other ones. It's all psychological, really. If you would rather just eat one big one then just make 8 big cinnamon rolls. My kids always ask for a second one, regardless of the size, so I make them teeny so that I can say "sure" and the kids think I'm just being overly generous that particular morning. One additional note, if you use the rapadura vs. the coconut sugar these are going to have a slightly more molassassy (is that even a word?) taste to them. I don't love an overly molassassy flavor, so I spread a little bit of my homemade cream cheese on top, and it took the edge off.
