i'd rather be baking

It’s no secret that I like a good shortcut now and then. I’m at the bakery piping buttercream by seven each morning, so I’ve taken to brewing coffee the night before and pouring it over ice on my way out. Lately my straightener doesn’t see the light of day for more than three seconds until Friday each week. I lay out my clothes each night like a second grader. These are my twenty-more-minutes-of-sleep shortcuts, and I take them unapologetically.

I grew up eating those Pillsbury-popped-from-a-can cinnamon rolls every Sunday morning, and gosh, they taste good. My cinnamon roll sensibilities have improved a little but I think I have those childhood Sunday mornings to thank for my recent cinnamon hankering. I wanted to make cinnamon rolls from scratch, but didn’t want to wait around for three or four hours of rise time before church. That’s why I got really excited when I read this recipe.

I made these Sunday morning to rave reviews and they’ll definitely be made again. I lightened them up a bit with white wheat flour, fat-free cottage cheese and soy milk, but really, they aren’t all that unreasonable to begin with. And yet they’re still wonderfully indulgent and come together quickly enough to get you to church on time. What more could one want?

Fastest Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted from Fine Cooking

I did use a food processor for this dough, but I think it could definitely be done with a mixer. I wouldn’t go the pastry cutter or wooden spoon route on this one, because you’ll want to break up the cottage cheese clumps as much as you can. Also, if you don’t have a springform pan feel free to use a regular 8-inch layer cake pan.

For the filling:
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, melted
2/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons cold low-fat or soy milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

Make the dough:

In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese, 1/8 cup milk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add the flours, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (don’t overprocess). The dough will be soft and moist.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with floured hands 4 or 5 times until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12×15-inch rectangle.

Make the filling:

Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and pat gently into the surface. Sprinkle the nuts over the sugar mixture.

Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal, and leave the ends open.

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan; they should fill the pan and touch slightly, but don’t worry if there are small gaps.

Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 28 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a spatula around the inside edge of the pan and remove the springform ring. Transfer the rolls to a serving plate.

Make the glaze:

In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tbs. milk, and vanilla to make a smooth glaze. It should have a thick but pourable consistency, so add up to 1 Tbs. more milk if necessary. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.