Cinnamon Raisin Rolls with Orange Glaze

I love breakfast food. When I have time, I enjoy whipping up a veggie omelette or egg sandwich. But my favorite is breakfast breads! They’re pretty versatile and you can quickly snap one into a Tupperware for the road if you’re in a hurry for your morning meal before work or school.

This recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Rolls is the same one I use for baking sandwich/dinner bread. It’s my momma’s fail-safe recipe which only differs in result if you alternate flour types (regular vs. higher gluten flours), brands and kneading methods. Using Bread Flour creates the best result; and kneading your dough for 5-8 minutes until a poke causes the dough to bound back guarantees you’ve kneaded it thoroughly.

Now, I realize that making bread from scratch can be quite daunting. But with practice, you’ll realize that it’s not the process that’s hard; it’s merely just the waiting for the dough to rise that can make you feel anxious. My solution? Bake something else in the meantime; kill two birds with one stone while you’re using the oven. :) I made Rosemary Lemon Yoghurt Cake while I was putting together this bread.

The neat thing about this recipe is that you can modify the flavors to whatever you want! Sub raisins for chocolate chips or craisins and slivered almonds. Or instead of the cinnamon/sugar mixture, use nutella (I’ve yet to do that myself, but it sounds like an amazing idea!). You can also change the shape of the dough. Instead of rolls, you can just roll up the dough, cut it in half and place it into two loaf pans for Cinnamon Raisin Bread; or place the small rolls into muffin pans for Cinnamon Raisin Roll Muffins.

It’s your recipe! Do whatever you want with it :) You can even make a different flavored glaze. Here in Los Angeles mandarin oranges are in season; and since I have some growing in my backyard, I used a few to give this bread some summer-to-holiday flavors.

Below, I’ve given you a step-by-step with pictures! Surprising, right? Well, I was on a roll (ha – no pun intended ;)) relearning how to use my Canon Rebel so I just decided to take pictures of everything!

At the end of this post, I’ve written the recipe in my traditional Recipe Card for printing pleasure.

Don’t forget to share if you like this recipe! And comment at the end of the post if you have suggestions, want to share with me what you did, or have questions! Prefer sharing photos? Follow me on instagram (hope_omf)!

CINNAMON RAISIN ROLLS WITH ORANGE GLAZE

1. Measure 2 cups of water into a glass measuring cup and heat it in the microwave for 45 sec – 1 min (until JUST hot to the touch but not hot enough for tea or hot chocolate! Let water cool if it’s too hot; it will kill your yeast otherwise).

2. In a large bowl, combine all your dry ingredients with a whisk.

3. Add your water to the dry ingredients and begin to stir. Add more flour if needed, 2 TBS at a time Note: It’s MUCH easier to add flour than water to a dough!

4. Mix until well combined…

5. At this point, you’ll want to knead your dough. Sadly, my camera died right before this point so I don’t have any pictures. But if you don’t know how to knead bread, take a look at this video. Roll your dough into a ball after you’re done kneading.

6. Clean out your mixing bowl and lightly coat it with oil. Place your ball of dough into the bowl and lightly coat the top of the ball with oil as well; then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for 1 hour.

Your dough should double in size. This is what it looks like when it’s finished:

While your dough is rising, soak your raisins in hot water. After at least 20 minutes, drain the raisins and set them onto a towel to dry a bit.

7. When your dough has risen, pour it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle.

8. Pour butter on the dough and spread it all the way to the edge. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar and your raisins over the top.

9. Roll up your dough tightly (I should have wrapped mine a bit tighter but with juggling the camera, I wasn’t as apt to do so ;)).

Make sure to PINCH the ends together…

10. Now, cut the dough into 1/2-1 inch pieces and place them into a greased pan (whether that’s a jellyroll pan or a 9×13).

11. Let dough rise for 30 minutes in the pan. Then GENTLY transport them to the oven (so the dough doesn’t deflate) and bake at 350°F until golden brown and dough is cooked all the way through. Drizzle with an orange, lemon and powdered sugar icing. You can add milk too if you like, just make sure to refrigerate the rolls after they cool.

Cinnamon Raisin Rolls with Orange Glaze

2014-10-20 14:57:41

With the holidays around the corner, this is a perfect breakfast recipe to bring to brunches or simply snap into a container to bring to work to give you a little holiday spirit. Otherwise, change the flavors with the differing seasons if you like! Nutella smear, craisin and almond slivers...this recipe is yours to do with however you like! Yield: This recipe makes a FULL 9x13 pan of cinnamon rolls!

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INGREDIENTS

Bread

2 cups warm water (110F)
4 cups flour (2 cups wheat and 2 cups white if you wish)
3 TBS flaxseed (optional)
3 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS cinnamon
5 tsp dry active yeast
2 tsp salt

Filling

4 TBS butter, melted
2 cups sugar (brown and/or white) + 2 TBS cinnamon + 1/2 tsp nutmeg (if you have it)
1 1/2 cups of raisins, soaked

Icing

Juice of 2 mandarin oranges
1-2 TBS milk
2 cups powdered sugar
zest of 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS

Bread

In a large bowl, whisk all your dry ingredients together.
Pour warm water over dry ingredients.
Begin mixing batter. If it appears too wet, add more flour 2 TBS at a time, mixing each time.
*Note --> It's much easier to add more flour than more water; so don't worry if you measured too much water initially!
When you feel like the dough is a good consistency, pour it out onto a floured surface.
Knead dough for 5-8 minutes, dusting it frequently with flour, until poking it with your index finger prompts the dough to "bound back." Roll your dough into a ball.
Clean your large bowl and coat the inside with a thin layer of oil or butter. Place your ball of dough into the center of the bowl and grease the top of the ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise for 1 hour.
While dough is rising, soak your raisins for about 30 minutes. Let them drain on a towel.
After an hour, check your dough. It should have risen double in size.
Lightly flour a surface to roll out your dough. Pour dough onto surface and roll into a rectangle.
Pour melted butter over the top of the rolled dough and spread it ALL THE WAY to the edge. Sprinkle your sugar/cinnamon mixture over the top as well as the drained raisins.
Roll up your dough into a log; pinch the edges.
Cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces and place into a greased 9x13 pan.
Let dough rise for another 30 minutes.
Transfer pan gently (so as not to deflate the dough) into a preheated 350F oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until dough is cooked all the way through (it might be hard to tell because of the gooey, sugary center; but you'll know it's done if you tap some of the cinnamon rolls and they don't smoosh when you press them.)