Sweetness & Light
I was bragging to my kids that I make the world’s best cinnamon rolls. I can say that, because I make them exactly the way I like them – so to me, they are the best in the world. Eric was quick to lay down a challenge, “Well Mom, you had better make some for us if you make the best in the world.” I didn’t say everyone in the world would agree with me, but I guess I did kind of imply that. In any case, it seemed like a good test for the new C&H® Light sugar & stevia blend.
I was skeptical about the taste of this stuff, because I’ve tried stevia before and the sweetness hit me in the back of the tongue instead of the front. I know – weird, right? I even tried Truvia, which is a stevia-based sweetener, and I thought it was downright gross. I’ve eschewed artificial sweeteners altogether, so was just resigned to sticking with sugar. But the C&H® Light actually tastes good! Brian didn’t like it in his coffee, but I thought it tasted just fine.
Baking with C&H® Light sugar was a breeze – you use half as much as the recipe calls for, and it neither affected consistency nor taste. At least, it didn’t for my awesome cinnamon rolls.
This is an old recipe that I got from my mom, who totally rules. For this particular batch, I used dried blueberries instead of raisins. I typically use pecans for cinnamon rolls, but tried almonds instead. And I replaced the orange for the glaze with Meyer lemons. I even sprinkled Meyer lemon zest over the dough before rolling it up. I loved the result!
Dissolve 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons of dry yeast in 1 cup of warm water in a large bowl.
Add in:
1 cup of luke-warm milk (I heated it in the microwave, 10 seconds at a time, until it felt right)1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
1/3 cup C&H® Light sugar & stevia blend (2/3 cups if using whole sugar)
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
4 cups of flour (I use half whole wheat pastry flour, half white all-purpose flour)
Beat until smooth (I use my stand mixer for this), then add 3-4 cups more flour, until dough is elastic and “kneadable.”
Put the dough on a clean, floured surface, separate into 2 balls, and knead each for 5 minutes. Yes, 5 minutes. This is a great place for kids to help, although mine got pretty bored of kneading before too long. Smear soft or melted butter on the inside of two large bowls, set the kneaded dough balls inside, cover with a clean towel, and let rise until they are doubled in size – about 1-1/2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 375F, then punch dough down (punching the dough is fun for kids!), and then split each ball into halves. So now you have 4 balls of dough. Working one at a time, roll out onto a floured surface. I try to roll it out in roughly a rectangle, approximately 12-14″ wide, maybe 10″ deep. Spread on top, in approximately this order (disclaimer – I don’t really measure any of these toppings, so I’m kind of estimating the quantities. If it seems too much or not enough to you, by all means adjust it!):
2-3 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup crumbled brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon (scoop it in to a fine-mesh sieve, and let your little one sprinkle it over the dough
1 tablespoon C&H® Light sugar & stevia blend
1/2 cup dried blueberries (or raisins or cranberries or dried cherries – whatever you like)
1/2 cup slivered almonds (or any other chopped nut you like, I recommend hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts)
Grated zest of one Meyer lemon
Once everything is loaded up, carefully roll up the dough & toppings, on the long edge. I use a serrated knife to slice the roll into 2″ sections. Another easy technique, and more kid friendly, is to use a piece of clean thread. Simply loop the thread around your roll, cross the two ends over each other, and pull so the thread cuts right through the dough. You should end up with about 24 pieces. Make sure you roll up the long side so you can get about 6 pieces, about 2″ tall, from each ball of dough.
Prepare your pans with melted butter, a tablespoon or so of C&H® Light and a small handful of brown sugar:
And place your rolls in the pan, giving them about a half an inch or so in between so they have room to grow. I’m sorry I didn’t take a picture at this point, my hands were covered in butter, sugar, cinnamon and flour.
Move on to your other balls of dough, and repeat the same process. Bake your little goodies for 20-25 minutes.
While they are baking, prepare the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons of softened butter (butter not soft enough? put the stick – still in it’s paper wrapper – in the microwave for 5 seconds. Flip it over on it’s side and zap for another 5 seconds. repeat for a total of 20 seconds, flipping it on a different side each time.)
Zest of two Meyer lemons (or 2 T of orange zest)
1/4 cup of Meyer lemon juice (or orange juice) – use the lemons that you zested for the cinnamon rolls if you need more juice.
Mix together until smooth, add more lemon juice if it’s too thick – you want to be able to drizzle it over the still-warm cinnamon rolls when they come out of the oven!
So, couple things:
1. Brian looked at four different stores, and could only find the C&H® Light sugar & stevia blend at Walmart. I prefer not to shop at Walmart, so fortunately C&H sells it online. If you don’t mind shopping at Walmart, then go to this link and download a coupon!
2. C&H is giving away a $25 visa gift card to one of our readers! Enter below.
Sweetness and Light to you all!
~Krista
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, meaning I was given compensation for trying the product and writing my honest review.