Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Honey Cinnamon Rolls


Another offering from an old issue of Cooking Light magazine.
If you eat three or more, however, I believe they no longer qualify as "light."
The magazine directs you to start with frozen bread dough (you can find this in the freezer section at the supermarket), but my handy dandy bread machine is so easy to use, I whipped up a batch of homemade white bread dough to use instead.
What this recipe does that I'd never seen before is instruct you to roll out the dough and spray it with cooking spray before sprinkling on the sugar/cinnamon mixture. No extra butter or oil in that layer. That must save a few calories right there.
On to the food:
1 lb. loaf frozen white bread dough
2 T. sugar
2 t. ground cinnamon
cooking spray (recipe called for butter-flavored spray, but I used regular Canola Oil Non-stick Cooking Spray, and it was fine)
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
(optional: 1/4 c. chopped pecans, toasted. I left this out)
Thaw dough in refrigerator for 12 hours; cover and bring to room temperature (about an hour). (Obviusly, if you make your own dough you don't need to wait 12 hours.)
Combine the sugar with the cinnamon. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it makes a 16 x 12 inch rectangle. Spray lightly with cooking spray; sprinkle cinnamon sugar over all. Coat dough again with spray. Starting with 12-inch end, roll up tightly. Pinch ends and seams well so none of the cinnamon-sugar goodness escapes.
In small heat-proof bowl, microwave honey for 20 seconds on high. Pour honey into 9-inch round cake pan (I used a pie tin), tilting so honey coats the bottom of whole pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar (and pecans, if you're using them).
Cut dough across into one-inch pieces (making 12 pieces). Place, cut side down, in cake/pie pan. Cover and let rise in warm place, free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (If your kitchen isn't warm, you can put your oven on "warm" for two minutes, shut it off, then put your dough in there to rise.)
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. (The recipe says until golden brown, but mine were golden brown after just 15 minutes, but were still too dough-y in the middle. Next time I will cook these for the entire 20 minutes.)
When you take them out of the oven, immediately invert the pan onto a serving plate. These are especially yummy when warm.
Makes 12, about 225 calories each.
Doing any baking at your house? I'd love to hear about it.

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18 Comments:

Blogger Carpool Queen said...

Other than baking on a tan outside, nothing especially lovely coming from my oven other than a box mix brownie here or there. I do jazz them up with cappuchino chips stirred in.

Especially if I want the boys to leave them alone.

They love cinnamon rolls, though, so this looks like something that would go over well in our house.

July 15, 2009 at 2:24 PM  
Blogger Heather S-G said...

mmmmm...love, love, love cinnamon rolls! These sound and look really tasty. I bake...but nothing exciting to report (it's not really my forte)!

July 15, 2009 at 2:35 PM  
Blogger DarcyLee said...

I haven't been doing much baking other than the occasional loaf of bread. I love the idea of honey in the cinnamon rolls. Sounds really good.

July 15, 2009 at 2:55 PM  
Blogger Lori said...

This really came out of a "light" cooking magazine? :) It sure doesn't look light! It really looks yummy.
I baked a Bishop's Cake yesterday. It's the third time I've tried this cake...the first two times I tried it was an utter flop. But I persevered and it turned out perfect this time. :)
http://littlehouseinthefoothills.blogspot.com/2009/07/hooray-for-me-finally.html

July 15, 2009 at 7:12 PM  
Blogger Sherri Murphy said...

These look scrumptious!

July 16, 2009 at 6:26 AM  
Blogger Lara said...

cinnamon rolls are one of my guilty pleasures in life, but ones that qualify as light? I'll have to try them to see if I can get the guilty part out of there. :)

July 16, 2009 at 7:40 AM  
Blogger Berji's domain said...

oh yum!
And the weekend is coming up too :)

July 16, 2009 at 10:25 AM  
Anonymous Faith said...

I love the way baking cinnamon rolls fill the whole house with their lovely scent! These look amazing!

July 16, 2009 at 10:43 AM  
Blogger Rainy Day Farm said...

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving me such a nice comment. I can't wait to check out your book and try some of your yummy recipies. I am really looking forward to the pork chops as I have a freezer full of pork right now. Thanks for sharing so many wonderful things!

July 16, 2009 at 10:11 PM  
Blogger Christine said...

I bet your house smells so good after takeing these out of the oven. Smells good, looks goods and tastes good! Win, win!

July 17, 2009 at 11:20 AM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Carpoolqueen, cappuccino chips sound delicious. I've never even heard of these. Guess I'll have to keep my eyes open at the grocery store.

Lori, congratulations on your successful Bishop's Cake. I think all three of your tries look yummy. It's cake!

July 17, 2009 at 1:10 PM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Rainy Day Farm, it's fun getting to know you through your blog. I hope you like the pork chops -- I thought they were delicious and worth the (extra bacon-grease) calories, in my opinion :) And I hope that you get to check out my book and it's a blessing to you. Some libraries carry it, so you might want to try there first.

July 17, 2009 at 1:13 PM  
Blogger Kathryn said...

Yum! I look forward to making these. :)

July 17, 2009 at 8:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lynn -- This makes my mouth water, because cinnamon rolls are one of my very favorite foods, which I don't get very often.

We've had alot of company in the last month and I've made a light version of poke cake three times and it's always been a hit. I just use the reduced-calorie chocolate cake mix (Pillsbury I think) "poked" with sugar-free raspberry jello and frosted with lite Cool Whip mixed with lite raspberry yogurt. We love it.

July 18, 2009 at 2:47 AM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Your "poke" cake sounds lovely, addhumorand faith. I've jotted down your directions and hope to try it soon. Thanks. Love those "light" desserts, too, because I don't need more pounds but I just can't pass up dessert. :)

July 18, 2009 at 9:28 AM  
Blogger Katy ~ said...

How did I miss this delicious post. I'm a softie for cinnamon rolls. And with the honey and brown sugar in these, they must be super duper good! Wow!!

July 18, 2009 at 10:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's a hint I learned from my mom making cinnamon rolls as a kid: cut the rolls with dental floss. Just slide the floss under the rolled-up log and pull it together at the top. They come out nice and round every time!

Cindy

July 27, 2009 at 5:51 PM  
Blogger Lynn said...

What a great hint, Cindy, to use the dental floss to cut the cinnamon roll dough. I'll have to remember that. Thanks.

July 27, 2009 at 7:03 PM  

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