Date Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls used to be my favorite.  As in, more than chocolate cake, more than candy bars, and more than just about any other dessert you can think of.

It was partly about the smell, partly about the taste, and a whole lot about the ooey gooey filling and the super soft, fluffy bread.  And those times when you get to eat it while it's still warm?  Don't even get me started!

A little while ago, I decided it was high time for me to create a "health-ified" Cinnamon Roll recipe.  After some rising, some kneading, and some a lot of eating, I knew I had created a winning dish.

First of all though, I want to make it clear that this recipe will not yield a classic Cinnamon Roll.  Instead, this recipe will yield a Cinnamon Roll that's low fat, low sugar, and actually acceptable for breakfast.   A Date Cinnamon Roll, if you will.

The filling for these guys is 100% butter and oil free.  The yummy gooey-ness that still remains is because of the maple syrup and dates used.  Yummm...

The bread part of these rolls is part whole wheat and all delicious.  I will admit it's a bit denser than you may be used to, but this isn't a bad thing at all.  It actually makes the rolls a ton more filling!

If you don't believe me, just give the recipe a try for yourself.  It may look complicated, but I promise it's much easier than it sounds.

Date Cinnamon Rolls
Bread:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 2 tbsp lukewarm water
• 1 tbsp dry active yeast
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cup spelt flour

Filling:

• 6 dates, pitted
• 2 tbsp soaking liquid (see below for clarification)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• optional: 1 tsp orange zest

Instructions:

1. Stir together milk, oil, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and heat to lukewarm.  
2. Place lukewarm water in a small bowl and pour yeast on top.  Let sit 5 minutes.
3. Stir yeast/water mixture into lukewarm milk mixture.  Transfer to a large bowl.
4. Beat in half of flour (you can start with whole wheat or spelt) with an electric mixer or by hand.  Continue adding flour until a soft dough forms.  You may not use the entire amount of flour listed above.
5. Let dough rest 10 minutes before kneading well.  After kneading, let rest another 10 minutes.  
6. Grease a large bowl, place dough inside, and cover with a damp cloth.  Allow dough to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
7. Turn dough onto a floured surface and roll into a 12inx10in rectangle.  
8. Place dates in small bowl.  Cover with water, and let sit at least 5 minutes.  Transfer dates to another bowl, but don't get rid of soaking liquid because you will use some as part of the filling.
9. Add remaining filling ingredients to bowl with dates.  Fork mash until mixture is mostly smooth and spreadable.
10. Spread filling evenly onto rolled out dough.  Roll up tightly like a jelly roll and slice into 12 pieces.  
11. Place each slice in a greased 9 in round pan.  Cover and let rise another hour.
12. Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake 25-30 minutes, until slightly browned.  If possible, serve while still warm.  Recipe makes 12 Cinnamon Rolls.

Sunday morning breakfast?  Sounds great to me!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:  

Date Sweetened Nutella

Raisin Puree - A Step by Step Guide

Wait! Don't close the page yet!  I promise this stuff is much more appealing than it sounds or looks.  Even you raisin haters, stay tuned.  I'm about to introduce you to something that very well may change your (baking) life.

This, my friends, is Raisin Puree.  

Though it may not look like much, it's a great ingredient to have on hand whenever you're attempting low sugar baking.  And in my case, that's a whole lot of the time.  Let me tell you, this stuff has been a real game changer.

Made simply from raisins and water, it's super sweet and perfect to mix into any baked good or whatever else you're cooking.  And don't worry if you don't like raisins, as long as you don't use too much, it doesn't taste of them at all.  However, I happen to like raisins, and sometimes use a lot to make the taste more obvious.  It's completely up to you.

So how do you make it?

Well, it just so happens that I've got a handy dandy detailed step by step picture guide to show you.  Let's get started.

1.  You start with some of these guys.  Thery're just plain old raisins and will be the base of your raisin puree.  I used Thompson Seedless Raisins, which I got from Trader Joes.  I'm sure any brand would work fine, as long as they're seedless and dark (not yellow raisins).

2.  You now load a whole bunch of raisins into a jar of your choice.  I used a pretty big one.  The only thing I'd cauting against is using a really small jar, because you'll be pureeing the raisins later, and want to make sure there's enough for it to blend easily.  Leave a bit of space between the top of the jar and where the raisins are, they shouldn't be overflowing.

3.  Fill up your jar with water until the water is completely covering the raisins.  Don't add any more water than you need to, or the texture of the puree may be too thin.  Put a lid on the jar and place it in the fridge for at least 24 hours.  This makes the raisins a lot easier to blend.

4.  After the raisins have been sitting for at least a day, remove them from the fridge.  They should be all nice and plump, like in the picture above.  Isn't it cool how that happens?  I've heard people plump their raisins before adding them to cookies, but I've never tried it.

5.  Empty out the jar into the bowl of your food processor (a blender may work too, but I haven't tried).  You don't have to drain the water or anything, just dump in everything.

6.  Let's get blending!  The picture above shows what the puree will look like midway through the process.  You don't want it to be that chunky in the end.  It may take a couple minutes of on and off processing to achieve the right texture.

7.  This is what your puree looks like when it's done.  It's still a bit lumpy, I suppose, but smoother than the other picture.  The constistency of your puree may vary a bit depending on how much water you used.  That's fine.  It shouldn't really matter much when you start to bake with it.

8.  Transfer your puree back into the jar.  It really condenses a lot so your jar won't be full anymore.  Store it in the fridge for up to a month.  Raisin Puree works great as a sweetener for baked goods.  It would probably be great in a no bake cookie or oatmeal dish too, if you're a raisin fan and want a more prominent flavor.

I have some recipes I'm planning to post soon, too.  Stay tuned!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Cake