mascarpone & maple caramel apple butter cinnamon rolls.

hello from the 5th or 6th day of cinnamon roll consumption, and the last day of 2 0 2 0 .

i’m sure everyone is tired of hearing about “this weird year,” but - once more for the people in the back ——— this year has been so weird.

if you’re reading this far in the future when we are all able to gather around a large pan of cinnamon rolls again - just know what a luxury it is to share space and meals with several other people.

also, cinnamon rolls are meant to be shared by like 8-12 people - not eaten by the same person for days on end 😂 that’s my 2020 for ya - pigging out on so many cooking projects designed for a family. luckily we had a couple other people around us this year to share everything with. i really can’t complain. so many hard circumstances took place this year for every single person i know, including myself - but i am so fortunate & lucky to be exactly where i am in life.

something great to come out of 2020 were all the creative pivots people made to create a business, a project, learn a new skill, or dive into a huge career change.

my lovely friend jeff, who’s an extremely talented chef and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, has always made delicious homemade jams, jellies, apple butters, etc - this year, he launched his own etsy shop where you can buy his incredible homemade apple cider butters in several flavors!

so proud of any friend who takes a chance on a business endeavor. yay, jeff!!! a foodie business endeavor was one that i was quite attracted to. 😊

not only are jeff’s apple butters sooo delicious and lovingly made from locally grown washington apples right in his home kitchen, but the attention to detail in the product shipment was so so sweet. it being december now, each jar was carefully wrapped (in eco-friendly wrapping - a huge plus for me with the zillions of boxes and paper waste coming to our doorstep these days) and came adorned with a jingle bell on each jar, along with recipe cards, and a personalized & typed note for me! i was very impressed with all the details, thought and effort put into his packaging. bonus was that shipping was super fast!

gorgeous apple butter color, too.

the flavors i got were regular, vanilla, smokehouse, and maple caramel apple - which is what went into these incredible cinnamon rolls on christmas morning!

taking food photos in the darkness of winter at like 9am is not ideal, but heyyy make it work, ya know.

the bulk of this recipe comes from JOY THE BAKER!!!

this is a life-changing cinnamon roll method that keeps your cinnamon rolls tender for SO many days. she spreads cream cheese across her rolled-out dough and folds it in, rolling out and folding a couple more times to create these amazing flaky & moist layers.

here i used mascarpone instead of cream cheese, and mascarpone in the icing on top. i love the bit of tartness that it brings to the sweetness of the apples. and the way it keeps the dough moist for seriously a week - not exaggerating - is so amazing. usually after a couple days of reheating regular cinnamon rolls, the dough is hard as a brick. but nooo, not the genius of joy the baker - tenderness for days. they continue to be as soft and fluffy as the day you baked them.

i used the whole jar of jeff’s maple caramel apple butter and a bit of the regular apple butter to supplement - about 10-12 oz in total. you don’t need walnuts, but i like em for the extra texture in there.

layerrrrrrrs.

these cinnamon rolls were sooo incredible and enjoyed by everyone living in our household on christmas morning - which is very special. cinnamon rolls are a christmas tradition for me - and i can safely say this version was perhaps the best i’ve made.

the apple butter is so so flavorful but not too sweet - and the mascarpone folded into the dough - fuhgetabouddit. so delicious. i sprinkled some extra brown sugar and cinnamon over the apple butter before rolling up the dough into a log and slicing.

and the smell of them, too! fantastic.

thanks so much, jeff, for sending me the maple caramel apple to try out in a recipe - it couldn’t have gone better, and i can’t wait to make these again next christmas. 😊

jeff’s etsy shoppe is found here in this link, and on instagram, here!

Mascarpone & Maple Caramel Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 8-12 Cinnamon Rolls, depending how you slice them

Active Time: 30 minutes // Bake Time: 30 minutes // Total Time: 3 hours

• Read & Follow JOY THE BAKER’S incredible cinnamon roll method here!

  Full recipe credit to Joy! Changes that I made:

• Use 8 oz. Mascarpone cheese instead of cream cheese to spread and fold into your dough.

• Spread 8 oz. Lovage Homemade Maple Caramel Apple Cider Butter over the rolled out dough (in lieu of the regular filling). Sprinkle a handful of brown sugar and add chopped walnuts, if desired.

• Once the rolls are sliced and placed into baking sheet, sprinkle with additional cinnamon over top.

• Use 3-5 TB. of Mascarpone in Joy’s icing recipe - being careful not to use too much milk, or the icing will be a bit grainy.

• Bake for about 28 minutes for tender & soft cinnamon rolls.

• ENJOY!

qp

aloha triple nut skillet cinnamon rolls.

alooooha.  i suppose i've had hawaii slash any tropical vacation on the brain lately :)  pete and i recently had a cinnamon roll that we could have sworn had coconut in it.  i don't think it actually did, but it gave me an idear!  hawaiian style cinnamon rolls.

all my life i've put cinnamon rolls on this mental shelf of "too much work" or "can only buy them in a restaurant or a store."  everybody always seemed to talk about how time consuming and how hard they are to make.  i've been wanting a damn cinnamon roll lately, so i looked at a recipe and was like....well this looks easy.  if you have all the time in the world (aka a saturday with zero plans), you can make them!  the only time consuming thing about them is that you have to let the dough rise for two hours, and then after the rolls are complete and sliced up, they need to sit and rise for another thirty minutes or so.  this means, you can go outside for at least two and a half hours during this INTENSE cinnamon roll making process.  haha.  i wandered about the house, stared at the mountains, spray-painted some old planters, tested out pete's new seat belts in the volkswagen, looked at a magazine.  the point is, they are not difficult to make at all!  you could easily make the dough in advance if you needed to, roll it out when you're ready, throw on your toppings, roll it up, slice, and bake baby bake.

not only was this the first time i have ever made up my own recipe for baking, it was the first time in my whole life making cinnamon rolls from scratch.  don't fear the cinnamon roll, people.

i used coconut milk and coconut oil instead of regular dairy and butter, and the dough turned out just as moist and delicious as regular cinnamon rolls, and with a delightful hint of coconut!  i guess i could have called these "quadruple-nut cinnamon rolls," but that might be overwhelming and make everyone want to run to the hills.

i knew for sure i wanted the classic walnut in the recipe, because they are cinnamon roll staples, and because i said so!  also, i bought literally 23 macadamia nuts from the bulk section because i know they cost an arm and a leg and didn't want a whole container...i pulled that lever down oh so gingerly.  macadamia nuts for extra hawaiian vibes.  finally, something about the flavor of a hazelnut i just couldn't exclude from this nutty party.  so hazelnut made the cut for no reason other than i like them a lot.  i know a lot of people do not like nuts in their foods/desserts and things, but you don't have to use any of these if you don't want to!  i just like them for texture and extra hints of different flavors.

this looks very easter-y.

oooh ombre nuts. so trendy right now.

i only used 1/4 cup of each type of nut.  i went easy on the hazelnuts because this particular batch i had were kind of stale. bumma. 

i don't actually know why i added chocolate.  maybe because i was making my own recipe and getting crazy in the kitchen with all the freedom.  i think i was worried the rolls would be dry and this was my attempt at giving them extra moisture.  turns out the chocolate was probably too much and i would leave it out completely the next time i make these.  it was surely delicious, just a bit too rich and overpowered the cinnamon.  the dough wasn't dry at all.  dry dough crisis averted, and lesson learned.

you could cut these into thinner rounds if you want to have more cinnamon rolls without doubling the recipe.  i cut them into random widths because i'm a first timer and i didn't know what i was doing.

i baked them in a skillet just for the hell of it.  i did find that the roundness of the skillet allowed the butter in the bottom of it to gather and collect in all the nooks and crannies of the rolls instead of retreating to the corners like in a square baking pan.  peter referred to this effect as "good bottom caramelization." i would agree.  go for the skillet!

i wanted to keep the glaze as light as possible since the cinnamon roll innards were going to be pretty rich, but you could use whatever icing or glaze you like.  i even tried heating plain greek yogurt with vanilla extract.  don't do that.  unless you like sweet & tart rubbery curds of dairy on your baked goods that clog the sink drain.

this is just powdered sugar, coconut milk, and very light vanilla and coconut extracts.

the rolls be bakin'!  pause to gaze at these pink flowers and pretend you're laying in a breezy porch hammock listening to the waves crash on the beach.

voila.  the rolls didn't explode or disintegrate, and i didn't burn the house down! great success.

and, guess what?  they tasted good!  i think i actually liked these better on the second day. the dough stayed moist and all the flavors had some time to jive.  my mother uses that term for flavors coming together, which i like a lot more than "meld" or "integrate." mingle is a good word, too.

and they're cute, to boot.

Aloha Triple Nut Skillet Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 10-12 

Total Time: 3 1/2 hours with lots of free time built in :)

Ingredients:

-Dough-

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp.) active instant yeast
• 1 cup canned coconut milk (i used the trader joe's light version in the green can)
• 2 TB melted coconut oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. salt

-Filling-

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts (use whatever type of nuts you like, or none at all if you prefer)
• 2 oz. finely chopped dark chocolate (optional)
• 1 TB coconut oil + 1 TB butter for brushing the dough

-Glaze-

• 1 cup + 2 TB powdered sugar  (i added 2 extra TB for thickness; this depends on preference)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (i used the rest from the TJ's can)
• 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions-

Warm 1 cup of coconut milk in a sauce pan.  Transfer to bowl of stand mixer or electric mixer and add melted coconut oil and packet of yeast.  Stir with a spoon, and let sit for 15 minutes until foamy/bubbly. 

Slowly begin adding the flour in small portions, unless you enjoy poofy clouds of flour in your eyes and cleaning tables and walls.  Add the egg, vanilla, and salt.  Mix on low until combined with paddle attachment.  Switch to the Captain Hook attachment, and continue to mix on low and add the last of the flour.  If the dough seems a little dry or looks flaky, add 1 TB coconut milk and continue to mix. Knead for 5 minutes on low. 

[You can do this all by hand if you don't have any mixers, it just takes a little more elbow grease.  Just think, "How did the pilgrims make this?" if you are concerned about not having certain equipment.  I got my KitchenAid mixer for my birthday a couple months ago.  Up til then, I'd been ferociously stirring things with a good ol fashioned wooden spoon in a bowl and having pretty good luck.]

Oil a medium/large sized bowl with butter/cooking spray/coconut oil.  Place the dough in this bowl and cover with a warm & wet kitchen towel or paper towel.  Let sit on the counter for about 2 hours. Go outside.  Do whatever you want for 2 hours. 

Come back to find a plump risen ball of dough.  Yay!  That's what you want to see.  You're pretty much almost done at this point even though you've done practically nothing.

Chop all the nuts and chocolate and set aside.  In a small bowl, stir the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture and set aside.

Clean a large surface of your counter or tabletop.  Flour the surface enough to cover so that the dough won't stick.  Remove the dough from the bowl and begin kneading it on the clean surface with your clean hands.  Flatten out the dough and roll into a large rectangle with a floured rolling pin (or wine bottle!).  My rectangle was approximately 18 x 12 inches and 1/4 inch thick.  I used a melted mixture of butter and coconut oil to brush the dough all over once it was all rolled out.  Sprinkle the brown sugar & cinnamon mixture all over.  Sprinkle the nuts and chocolate all over.  Roll it up, pup! Try to keep the roll tight so that the bits of filling won't fall out everywhere.  Slice the roll with a sharp floured knife into 1-2 inch sections.

Liberally butter/oil/grease the inside surface of your cast iron skillet.  The more the merrier caramelization.  Carefully place all the cinnamon rolls into the skillet, giving each one a tiny bit of breathing room so that they're easy to separate later.  Cover,  and let them rise for 30 more minutes inside the skillet or baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk all the ingredients for the glaze.  Whisk, whisk, whisk!  It will become smooth after looking perpetually lumpy for a few minutes.  

[Add more coconut milk or more powdered sugar to adjust the thickness.  I do not like glazes or frostings that taste like straight up powdered sugar, so I try to use the smallest amount I can in order to get the texture I want.]

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).  Place skillet in oven on center rack.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  I kept mine in for 30 minutes until I saw the top getting golden brown and the dough looked set. 

Eat 'em with milk or coffee or the complementary beverage of your choice. 

Kick your feet up! You've just made cinnamon rolls from scratch and it wasn't as scary as everybody always told you.

recipe inspiration from

here

(my go-to girrrrL!) and

here

!

and mahalo.  my first real life, big kid recipe.  written down with words and actual measurements.  milestone.

qp