Cinnamon And Cream Cheese Rolls Recipe

I love cinnamon rolls. As much as I wish, I don't make them often, purely for health reasons, as I am the one to give in to the temptation gobble down every bit. So it has been a while, and I had got the inspiration to use cream cheese for filling as well. This way with one process we get two types of roll. How economic is that, for the taste buds, that is!

This time I was also able to perfect my recipe, given all the practices and exercises in kneading and portioning. And this time I also had a trustee assistant at hand, who not just helped me in preparing but also helped me in taking step by step pictures for your benefit (Disclaimer: its too tempting, control yourself).

And here goes:

You Need:

320g all purpose flour (APF)
50g sugar
50g butter
130g milk
1 egg
5g yeast
a pinch of sugar

For the filling:
60g brown sugar
30g butter
half tsp cinnamon

50g cream cheese
20g castor sugar

Method:

1) Mix APF, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Make a well in between and add the milk, yeast and egg. Knead till fully incorporated and then knead in the butter. Make into a smooth dough and cover it to proof for one hour.

2) Mix the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon till smooth and keep aside.

3) Mix the cream cheese and castor sugar till smooth and keep aside.

4) Take the dough and roll it out to a approximately 30cmx40cm.

5) Spread the cinnamon mix on the left half, and cream cheese on the right half.

 

6) Roll the dough towards yourself, pinching the ends.

7) Cut it into 8 equal sizes.

8) Arrange each roll on a greased baking dish.

9) Proof for another 30 mins and then bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10 to 15 minutes.

You can always trust APF to make really soft and yummy rolls. And those cream cheese rolls rock, almost taste like yogurt filling. While the brown sugar gives sticky and sweet flavour, the cream cheese filling has all soaked up into the bun giving it a sweet and sour taste. It was amazing having it over a cup of ginger tea with the girls. Try it!

Man Of Steel

You remember the saying 'you can't have your cake and eat it too'? Well in our case it is 'we can't have our movie and watch it too'.  We have been taking the boys for movies recently but most of the time we hardly get to watch even 50% of the movie to understand what is going on.

This time it was 'Man Of Steel' and something went differently. We actually did have our movie and watched it too! I actually understand the storyline, and the whys and whats of the movie. And before I get on with the kids' story, I want to say Man Of Steel is totally awesome. A lot more into the background of Krypton and the Els. A lot more into Clark Kent's childhood growing up with super powers. And his relationship with daddy Kent, is very touching. Although we see his fellow Kryptonites having similar powers, Superman just stands out. Definitely a must watch during this hot hot season.

The little boys of steel were dressed to the occasion. And at the cineplex we saw plenty of dudes of steel wearing similar t-shirts, but hey the little boys looked cuter pretending to be Superman and even got comments from young girls who were enchanted with their macho-ism. Ok that's pushing it but you get the idea.

In the beginning the boys were anxious and asked 'I want Superman' as much as donkey asks 'Are we there yet?' in Shrek 2. We were trying to hush them before the others decide to lodge complaints against us for not turning down our 'ringtones'.

And finally once Kal-El came, and slowly started practising his powers (for once we do not see effortless flying and weight lifting like in those older movies) the kids knew their hero was here. They were pretty engaged throughout, and just to curb any possibilities of boredom, we decided to move to the floor right behind our couple seat. At least Jeev had some space to walk about. And he even stole a popcorn from some stranger.

Once the movie was over Sanju walked out with a new glow, as though he is The Superman. He did not once change his serious face, and gave us glances from the corner of his eyes. And during bedtime, he slept hugging Superman dolly. Such moment are just so priceless! Not to mention we actually got the full value of our RM26 spent on the tickets by actually watching the movie!

Go see Man Of Steel, he is back in a new avatar. They got rid of the curly bangs and the red undies on the outside. But the glasses remains, for the clever (?) disguise!

The Man Of Steel with the two boys, comfy on the carpeted floor while I took over the whole couple seat.

When I sent this picture to my bro in law, he replied 'Real Steel'! And come to think of it, he does work in the largest steel company in Asia!

Reward for the Men Of Steel, this midweek snack, chicken ham and cheese rolls.

The recipe is same as my bacon and onion rolls except I arranged chicken ham slices diagonally. Enjoy!

Bacon And Onion Bun With The Perfect Dough

I am on cloud nine today afternoon because I have just discovered my perfect bun dough recipe! As you may know I am crazy about Dailydelicious blog, and I have been trying most of the bread recipes there, but never ever I had this experience before.

I had baked the bacon and onion bun previously and it turned out pretty decent for a noob like me. Needless to say they were a hit in the house and did not see more than one break of dawn.

And today I set out to bake the same thing again, using the same recipe from dailydelicious, but this time i intended to make more, as they are a huge hit, and Sanju has been pointing to the Domino's catalogue asking for pizza. So I added the portions slightly a little bit more, and lessened the milk a little bit, because I do usually end up adding more and more flour to get better dough texture while kneading.

This is what I used, and voila! The perfect dough, the perfect sweet and savoury bun, and the perfect munching time ever! I got 8 bacon and onion buns and 4 pizza twist buns.

You need:

300g bread flour
30g sugar
200g milk, warm
a pinch of salt
5g instant yeast
a knob of butter

For filling:
some chopped bacon
some chopped onion and garlic
some mozarella cheese

Method:
1) Mix the milk and yeast, stir till yeast dissolves, and set aside for ten minutes.
2) Mix bread flour, sugar and salt. Slowly pour in the milk till the mixture comes together. Start kneading with your hand till its incorporated together in a dough. At this point it should not be sticky. Add a tablespoon (or two) of flour if it is sticky, and work the dough till you get smooth dough. Keep it aside to proof for one hour.

My dough, not an expert smooth but works for me ;)

3) Sautee bacon, and once slightly brown add in the chopped garlic and onion. Fry till lovely brown.
4) Roll the dough out to 30x20cm. Spread the sauteed filling.

Spread sauteed filling

5) Roll the dough towards yourself. Pinch the ends to seal.

The final roll, ok I should have rotated the picture, but whatever

6) Press both ends inwards to compact the roll. Cut into 10 or 12 portions, in case you want smaller rolls.
7) Set the rolls on a buttered baking dish to proof for another 30 minutes.

Second proofing

8) Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top of it. Bake at 180C for 15-20minutes.

Hubby is gonna love his breakfast box tomorrow!

For the pizza twist buns, I rolled small doughs long, and twist and turn them back into a circle, and press flat with my palm. After the 30 minute proofing, I spread tomato pasta on it, placed some sausage slices, and mozzarella before baking. 

This basic dough would work for many endless varieties and since it contains no egg, it does not leave any smell if you are hand kneading, except the nice aroma of the butter. This formula worked out so well for me. The dough is soft and sweet, and the bacon gives nice burst of flavour on each bite. Hope it works out just perfect for you as well!

Tuna Heart Buns

Recently hubby and I celebrated two of our wedding anniversaries. Don't be alarmed, we have 2 wedding anniversary dates because we had two different ceremonies for each our family sides. And the first wedding anniversary date actually coincides with the most coveted lover's celebration worldwide which means hubby has no reason to even slightly forget the anniversary date!

When you have two (hyperactive) kids, even a simple peaceful dinner at home spells celebration, and that is exactly what we did and still do. Hubby got these super huge grilled burgers from the new Burger Bakar Abang Burn outlet in Klang. And due to gastronomical emergencies, I did not manage to snap any pictures of the wonderful(ly savage) moments in savouring the juicy burger. However, it was so filling and rich to the taste that I swear I do not want to be in 5 meter proximity with the huge burgers. 

And then I did something special, and baked these cute hearty buns with tuna filling. It suited the occasion, and also the St. Valentine's day well. 

The lazy me is too lazy to type out the recipe, but I will give you the source of my inspiration, and success (smug look)... here is Happy Home Baking. 

Such simple money-can't-buy gifts are perfect for two reasons. Number 1: I am a SAHM and do not have any income. Number 2: Hubby is the best appreciator of food with an insatiable hunger for something new. I love to cook/bake, and he loves to eat. Match made in heaven, and in the kitchen.

We gobbled it down hot from the oven, while watching Vishwaroopam which I downloaded online. Oh yeah, I make my own bread and download my own movies even before it hits Malaysian cinema. SAHM rocks! Ok I admit nothing super but if you have the local censorship boards holding up screening a high profile movie by an even higher profile personality, piracy is bound to happen, and a good quality copy at that!

And then on came the second anniversary date, and so we being the loving doting clingy parents to Sanju and Jeev got them busy with their grandparents, aunties and uncles and took a quick getaway for some food. This is the view right after the last burp of satisfaction. We had scallops, mussels and oysters. Can you tell? And it was just the two of us, I swear. Only our capacity exceeds. True story!

Till the next burp, happy celebrating anything that you are or going to celebrate!

Cinnamon Rolls

I do not remember when exactly I developed my love for cinnamon rolls. In fact for a large part of my life I never knew the usage of cinnamon can be for sweet dishes as well.

I used to drool over the recipe on the website, and being not confident in kneading and using yeast, I wondered if I could try it without yeast. After reading up more on yeast, it then occurred to me the vital role of yeast in rising the dough. 

When I got my oven in the new house, I was determined to get my hands dirty (literally) baking buns, cinnamon in particular. And I have been baking ever since.

I baked once for Diwali, as you have read here, and it turned out beautifully delicious. Then being so confident I made it again for Christmas for my friend's birthday. but the yeast dudes cheated me and did not rise, so much for second time confidence. And in between I tried few other buns, and suddenly last week it occurred to me to try the cinnamon buns again.

I was cautious to treat my yeasts better this time. And kept fingers, toes and kitchen utensils crossed, and what do you know?! Here it is:

Recipe, recipe, yes I hear you... My favourite baking blog's recipe for Mini Cinnamon Bites. Follow the exact recipe as it is, and you can always omit the icing on top because the buns are already sweet and moist, unless you want a sugar shock for yourself.