Sweet Dough - Cinnamon Rolls

Since I decided to take this bread making thing seriously, I did a bit of searching on the internet to find out if I was actually kneading the dough in the proper way. I was doing the "stretch it out with the palm of your hand" thing. Turns out that is the way most people do it, however... It is not the best way. The reason it is a flawed method is because it allows you to add too much flour to your dough. The new method of kneading dough I use is kind of a "pick it up, flip it over, smack it down, stretch it out, and fold it over" method. There is a video below in the middle of the recipe, don't worry.

The video I found came with a recipe by a pretty awesome chef (in my opinion based on my limited knowledge of chefs!). His name is Richard Bertinet and he has a few bread books that I would like to own. The dough is a "sweet dough". I wanted to make the dough but had no idea what to do with it. I made the dough and figured out a plan after it was finished rising. My decision was delicious: I made cinnamon rolls.

This method of making dough uses no machines at all. Just a bowl, a small scraper, your hands, and a clean table. The kneading method is very energy and time consuming if you aren't used to kneading this way! It took me twice as long as suggested in the video and my arms were sore the next day. Maybe in a few months I'll have some muscles from making bread!

Sweet Dough (Link to recipe on Gourmet.com)

1 C plus 2 T milk

1 package dry active yeast

3 3/4 C flour

1/2 stick unsalted butter

3 T granulated sugar

2 t salt

2 eggs

Heat the milk to 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, place the flour in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.

Stir in the sugar and salt. Crumble the butter into the flour mixture.

Pour in the heated milk and eggs.

Stir by rotating the bowl with one hand and scraping the ingredients together with the scraper in your other hand. The dough will be sticky when you are finished.

Watch this video before proceeding to learn how to knead the dough!

Plop the dough out onto a clean surface and start kneading.

Once the dough is smooth and non-sticky, cover it with a bit of flour and form it into a ball. 

Place the dough ball into a lightly floured bowl and let it rise. If your dough doesn't seem to be rising, place it in the oven with the oven OFF and place a bowl of boiling water in the oven as well. Close the door and let it rise until doubled. The hot water will provide a small amount of heat and moisture, two things that yeast loves!

Once the dough is doubled, lightly punch it down.

To make cinnamon rolls, split the dough into two pieces. Roll out one piece of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Brush the top of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon sugar on top. Roll up the dough and slice into the desired size. Place these slices into a greased baking dish. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.

Let rise until doubled in size, approximately 30 min to 1hour. 

Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes.  Let the cinnamon rolls cool for about 10 minutes before servings.

Optionally, before serving, make a simple glaze for on top. Do this by mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of milk and a little bit of vanilla with a fork. If it is too runny, add some more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a little bit of milk. Drizzle on top of the cinnamon rolls with the fork you used to mix.

Enjoy!