Market Cinnamon Rolls

Makes a nice size batch of about 12 fat rolls . I sold them at our Saturday farmers market for $1.50 a roll. I could make them ahead of time(like on a monday) and freeze them on the baking sheets. The night before the market, I would pull them out of the freezer and let them thaw. With holidays around the corner, these make wonderful treats for overnight guests! For the market I would wake up at 4 a.m. to bake them. I'd then pack them in a foil lined ice chest and take them to the market, piping hot. As I sold them, I'd drizzle the icing on top as per customer's request.



1 tablespoon dried yeast
5 cups warm water
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar---I used 1/4 cup light, 1/4 cup brown
2 tablespoons salt
about 1./4 of cinnamon (opt)

Roughly 13 cups (plus a little more) unbleached all purpose flour

FILLING:

1/4 cup (or a tiny bit more) melted butter or vegetable oil
1&1/2 cups light brown sugar
handful of ground cinnamon..about a little less than 1/2 cup

sponge:(Use a very large bowl for this..)
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Stir in the 6 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, stir in the same direction. Then stir for another minute...Let the sponge rest for 2-4 hours, covered.

In 2 hours the sponge will have grown. It will be bubbly.

Gently stir it. Sprinkle sugar, salt and a little bit of cinnamon on top the mixture and stir it in.

Add the 6 cups of flour, one cup at a time, stirring and turning as the dough becomes a little more thicker. The dough will become to thick to stir at some point. When this happens turn out dough to a well floured surface (this is where my heavy duty mixer with dough hook comes in handy)

Knead dough for about 10 minutes, if needed add more flour until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a large oiled bowl.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. (about 2 hours)

WHEN RISING IS DONE:

Gently pull the dough away from the sides of the bowl and lay dough out on a work surface lightly floured.

Flatten dough to a large rectangle-ish square (if that makes any sense)

When dough is shaped:
( I make the paste first so I don't have to stop what I am doing)

in another bowl combine the filling recipe to make a paste.

With this paste, using fingers, rub it into the dough, covering the dough as much as possible.

Roll up the dough jelly roll fashion, then cut about 12 rolls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Place rolls 1/2 inch apart.

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at this point, when I am freezing them, I stop at the above step, cover them with foil, and place them in the freezer. If I am not freezing them, I continue on
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Let rolls rise for 30 minutes if NOT frozen..if frozen, let rise over night.

Preheat oven to 400*

Bake for 35-40 until they are golden brown.

To soften up the crusty tops, you can loosely cover with a cheesecloth or cotton cloth.

I have given these rolls to neighbors in pretty gift baskets, still warm. Rave reviews always followed.


for the topping:
I use a powdered sugar/milk mixture.

Sift about 1 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and add milk 1 teaspoon at a time, stir after each addition. Stop adding milk when the icing is thick enough to drizzle on top of warm rolls.








This message was edited Nov 12, 2006 8:11 AM