Darci Hannah: Easter is right around the corner, and with that special day in mind, I thought I’d share one of my favorite recipes that I make for my family every Easter for our morning brunch. Making cinnamon rolls from scratch is truly a labor of love. The method is quite simple, but there’s no getting around the two rise times that this sweet yeast dough requires. That’s why I reserve this warm, gooey, cinnamon-flavored baked good for special occasions, like Easter.
I come from a family that loves their gooey baked goods. I don’t remember when I had my first bite of a cinnamon roll, but I do remember when I decided to make them. I was newly married and trying to save money. Isn’t that how every great kitchen adventure starts? Well, my first attempt bombed because my dough didn’t rise, which means that I probably killed the yeast with scalding milk instead of warm milk. Over the years, I began to perfect my recipe, figuring out what worked and what didn’t until I grew confident that my cinnamon rolls would not only turn out, but would also be delicious.
Years later when I began writing the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, I knew that my protagonist Lindsey Bakewell was going to have a few key staples in her bakery cases, like giant cinnamon rolls and caramel pecan rolls. That’s because these gooey, delicious treats were always offered in my favorite bakeries, and of course, I just had to try them. Oddly enough, I’ve never put this recipe in the back of the books, so I thought I’d offer it here. If you’d like to bake some cinnamon rolls this Easter, here’s a recipe you might wish to try.
Beacon Bakeshop’s Signature Giant Cinnamon Rolls
Prep time: 2 hours. Cook time: 30-40 minutes. Makes 6-8 large cinnamon rolls
Ingredients:
½ cup butter, melted
2 cups whole milk, warmed to 100-110 °F
½ cup granulated sugar
1 package of active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
6-8 tablespoons heavy cream (for baking)
For the filling:
½ cup butter melted
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
For the frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
Directions:
Grease 9 x 13 baking pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the warm milk, melted butter, and sugar. Gently stir the yeast into the warm mixture and let sit for 1 minute.
Add 4 cups of flour to the warm mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture is combined. Do not overwork the dough. It will be sticky, and that’s okay. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour. The dough should double in size.
In a small bowl, mix ¾ cup of flour with the baking soda and salt. Once the dough has risen, stir in the flour mixture. Mix well and turn onto floured surface. Lightly knead the dough, adding flour as needed until dough is no longer sticky. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Roll dough out to a large square, roughly 18 x 18 inches, trying to make the corners as even as you can. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Next, melt the ½ cup of butter and brush evenly on the dough. Once the dough is covered with melted butter, evenly sprinkle on the sugar mixture, making sure the entire square is covered. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough in 3-inch strips, making 6 rolls in all. If you want smaller rolls, cut the dough into 2-inch strips. It’s up to you. Next, roll the dough strips up into a tight roll, pinching the dough on the outside seam to seal it together.
Place the cinnamon rolls in the prepared baking pan. Cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. The cinnamon rolls will expand noticeably. Preheat oven to 350° F.
Once rolls have risen pour 1 tablespoon of heavy cream on the top of each roll, using a pastry brush to spread it around. Bake rolls for 30 to 40 minutes, or until they rise and are a nice golden-brown. If the insides need a little longer to bake, cover the pan with tinfoil and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
While the cinnamon rolls are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. Using an electric mixer, blend the cream cheese, melted butter, milk, and vanilla. Once blended add the powdered sugar and blend until smooth.
Once cooled, remove the cinnamon rolls from the pan and frost the tops of each roll with the cream cheese frosting.
Enjoy!
Print a copy of the recipe here!
Readers, for a chance to win a copy of Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop, tell me in the comments below what your favorite treat is that you buy when you visit a bakery. Don’t forget to include your email.
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @authordarcihannah
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When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
Trade Paperback Release!
While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .
It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.
Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!
Coming this July!
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
Preorder today!
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
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Because no one is out of the woods yet.
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