African Honeybush Tea - Banana, Vanilla, Pineapple and Cinnamon Sweet Rolls

Gosh - that's a mouthful - the name... and normally I like to do - that less is more when it comes to flavors... but I have been drinking some African Honeybush Tea in this variety and it's really yummy. So, I decided to do something with it in regards to sweet rolls. I was concerned that the flavors would compete each other and cancel each other out but actually they all came together really well and it worked. The "tea" taste was subtle, the pineapple was the most notable but it didn't overpower the other flavors and they all complimented the cinnamon and they were quite yummy.

I was in the sweet rolls mood this afternoon and I was trying to decide which ones to re-make. The Rooibos vanilla was were quite good and so were the Polynesian Pineapple rolls... so I went to the tea cupboard and looked for a new variety to try and that is when I saw that little bag of African Honeybush... and it has pineapple in it and then I just new exactly what to do. It all worked out so wonderfully.

Dough: 
1/2 cup hot "Oat Dream" or water with 1 bag of the above mentioned tea seeped in for 5-10 minutes (longer yields more flavor) [Use about 3/4 cup liquid and then set some aside for the glaze]
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 small ripe banana, pureed smooth (about 100ml)
2 1/4 cups BASIC ROLL MIX

Filling:
+/- 1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 - 2 tablespoon butter, softened

Topping:
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits in syrup, pureed till smooth like apple sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons "Oat Dream" (tea seeped - see above)

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm seeped tea (Oat Dream or water). Add in banana puree and melted butter. Mix in 2 cups of the BASIC ROLL MIX and up to 1/4 cup more until dough is smooth and elastic. Butter bowl, put in the dough and turn to cover all sides. Cover bowl with damp cloth or plastic wrap and put in warm place to double in size. For example, the oven on the lowest temperature is a good place. I usually heat it for a few minutes and then turn off the heat and let it sit in the oven with the door closed for at least an hour to let it double in size. Punch down dough. Let rest a few minutes. 

2. Roll out dough on clean surface dusted with flour and shape into rectangle flat form. Spread softened butter over top and sprinkle with generous amount of sugar - up to 1/2 cup and then with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon - about 1 tablespoon. Roll up jelly-roll style and slice into 8 equal slices. Put into pie dish prepared with parchment paper and let rise a second time 30-45 minutes in warm place as above.

3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and pineapple and whisk until blended, bring to boil over medium heat; cook and stir about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Make an indentation with the back of a spoon or with your thumb into the center of each roll and then place a teaspoon or two of the topping in the center of each roll. Bake at 175-C degrees (350-F) for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

4. For glaze, combine sugar and extract and enough "milk" seeped Oat Dream to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle over warmed rolls.

Related Posts:
Rooibos Vanilla Sweet Rolls
Polynesian-inspired Pineapple and Bacon Sweet Rolls
Banana Date Mango Sweet Rolls
Coco-Nana-Nut and Dulce de Leche Sweet Rolls
Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls

Sweet Rolls-o-Rama... recipe ideas

I've been getting back into baking rolls again - something about this time of year - I think it's because it's so cold and gloomy and baking sweet things just livens up the senses and warms the house, too.

Today I'm baking Corn Rolls - yes corn rolls that you can eat. Not to be confused with corn rows. And I plan on stuffing them with a variety of fillings. Hot dogs and melty Cheddar as well as a more classic butter, sugar and spice filling - but not cinnamon - something hot like cayenne pepper. Really any filling that you like in your corn bread you can add to the corn rolls. 

I made corn bread last night in honor of my grandfather, his birthday anniversary just passed and I teach my children about people they may never meet in this life by celebrating their birthdays every year with a favorite meal of that person. 

I skyped with my Dad the other night and he reminded me that his Dad, my Grandfather loved good old comfort food from the Depression Era. And he was a southern boy. He liked Navy bean soup with ham hock, and corn bread. And he like green onions with salt. We skipped the green onions with salt - but we did eat one of his favorite desserts which was lemon meringue pie. It was my first time baking that - I actually did lemon meringue bars. They were so yummy. Meringue is way easier to make than I thought it would be. I'm totally going to make Lemon meringue sweet rolls in the future - cause it sounds so yummy to try.

Anyway, what I discovered with this corn bread recipe that I made last night is that my kids absolutely do not like anything chunky in their corn bread. As soon as they got to a piece of corn in the corn bread they were spitting everything out back onto their plates. I rolled my eyes. Gosh they are so picky. So, when I bake these rolls today, I will not use a chunky corn filling - 'cause I don't want a repeat of last night.

Lemon and Blueberry Sweet Rolls...
I think I could add lemon and blueberry to my Corn rolls with  great success.

So be looking for a few recipes to come - Corn Rolls - Sweet corn rolls, Lemon meringue rolls, and I'm just putting this out here too - I had this idea the other day - and I gotta try it out - Pumpkin Stracciatella Sweet Rolls... I gotta combine two of my all time favorite rolls :)

Related Posts:
Stracciatella Sweet Rolls
My Top 6 and Recipe Archives
Honey-nut Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ideas and Inspiration

Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

I've been baking a lot lately - again... and baking sweet rolls again. I don't want to just blog about every roll I bake because lets face it - even though they all get eaten, not all of them are so blog worthy as these. Oh yummy. I used a combination of recipes to create this delicious roll. And even though you can throw your nuts into the filling... it's so aesthetically pleasing to see them strewn about over top. Do you agree?

The dough on these is very dense - it's not as airy as other rolls - but that doesn't stop them from being oh so yummy - I tend to repeat myself a bit in the description of these rolls... that's just how I roll ;)

Lately I bake sweet rolls in the amount of 8 total. Most recipes online make 12 - 24 and that is just too much unless you are making  'em for a potluck. Usually I just bake them for dessert just for us so I don't want all the extra rolls. Not that I wouldn't enjoy eating them but my gut can only handle so much sweetness.

Like I said, I use a combination of recipes to make these. One such recipe that I like a lot - is from The Pioneer Woman. She has some of the tastiest frosting ever. I think it's from the combination of coffee and maple extract. I used a bit of both of those here. I was very generous in the amount of sugar used in the filling as well.

These are best served warm. I shared them with my sister-in-law Linda for her birthday... and my taste buds were very happy to share them.

For the dough, combine 1/2 cup warm milk, 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast, 1/4 cup melted butter and 2 cups BASIC ROLL MIX. Mix until it makes a nice together dough - not sticky at all. It will be dense. Butter or oil bowl and put inside, covered to double in size in warm place - about 60-90 minutes. Punch down dough. Wait 10 minutes. Roll out on lightly floured surface in the shape of a rectangle about 1-2 centimeters thick. Spread 1-2 tablespoons melted butter over top. Spread generous amount of sugar over top - about 1/2 cup fine white sugar and then about 1 tablespoon dusting of ground cinnamon over that. Roll up and press seams together. Cut into 8 equal slices and place cut side up into pie dish lined with baking parchment paper. Let rise a second time in warm place 30-60 minutes. Bake at 175-C (350-F) degrees for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and frost while still warm with glaze. Recipe follows: in bowl combine 1 heaping tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon coffee granules dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water, 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/16 teaspoon (1-2 drops) Mapleine extract, and about 1/2 cup powdered sugar till smooth. Add 1-2 teaspoons milk to thin if needed. Spread over rolls and strew 1/4 cup chopped pecans over all.

Related Posts:
Honey-nut Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
The Best Cinnamon Rolls with Shiny Sweet Glaze
Maple Cinnamon Honey Butter

Butternut Squash + Ginger Syrup Sweet Rolls

It's been a long time since I've published a Sweet Rolls that Rock recipe because I've been trying to eat more healthy and I've been trying to follow the Primal Blueprint - which is kind of like similar to the Paleo diet.

And in case you are wondering why it didn't last - it's because it's a fad diet - not for everyone - but for me it was. The thing that bothered me was all the meat and you often hear people say I get to eat bacon, so niener niener niener, you know. But let me tell, I love bacon, but everyday - it gets boring pretty quick. 

And then I watched a couple documentaries - like Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and also Forks over Knives... and that got me thinking - you know, I'm a Mormon and we have this document called the Word of Wisdom. It's basically a revelation from our loving Heavenly Father and he promises us that if we live according to it we will have health. Some basic do's and don't's of the Word of Wisdom are to eat meat sparingly - and at that only in times of famine and winter. He tells us to eat grains and He says to avoid other harmful substances like alcohol, coffee and tea. 

I think in regards to the coffee and tea - it's caffeine that he means because just steaming the leaves of certain plants is pretty healthy - but caffeine is a big no-no. I mean, it's incredibly addictive. Had the Word of Wisdom been revealed right now with all those popular fizzy drinks - those would probably be included too - but that's just something I've come to learn for myself.

Any way, I haven't been doing the Primal Blueprint - although I do really enjoy some grain-free treats - like I have this one good recipe for grain free zucchini cake that is just super duper good... but nothing and I mean nothing can replace the deliciousness of yeasted breads!

So, if you have some kind of gluten intolerance - and you have been baking for a while and know what to do - do what you gotta do to alter this recipe... otherwise, here is my version... oh yeah, and because of the documentary Forks over Knives - we are eating and drinking less cow's milk so I use coconut milk in this recipe.

And just one more thing - I am really trying to bake less - because for anyone that is trying to lose weight - no matter which diet you are following - what it all comes down to is that you have to take in fewer calories than your body needs and I noticed that when I bake yummy stuff - I can't eat just one... that's just me, though - so I recommend only baking for a purpose - like you are bringing a treat to share with another family, etc. etc. etc.

Butternut Squash + Ginger Syrup Sweet Rolls

For the Dough, combine and let rise 2 tablespoons warm milk (coconut milk), 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon instant yeast. After 5 minutes or until it's bubbly, add 1/2 cup room temperature, luke warm milk (coconut), 2 tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (ghee) and 1/4 cup butternut squash (roasted and pureed). Mix well. Then add in 2 cups sifted flour plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir together till mixture forms into dough. Let rest a few minutes then knead another 5 - 10 minutes. Turn into large oiled bowl and cover with wet towel. Then let it rise 60-90 minutes in a warm place (oven).

Dust counter top with flour and roll out dough into rectangular form and spread with filling (see below). Roll up and cut into 8 equal slices. Place on prepared baking sheet (I use parchment paper and I usually bake 8 in a pie tin) and let rise again in warm place (oven at 50-C degrees) for 30-45 minutes. Adjust oven temperature for baking (175-C degrees) and bake for 10 minutes. Then adjust temperature down to 150-C degrees and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until the dough springs back easily when lightly touched.

Remove from oven and drizzle with Ginger Syrup topping (below). Serve warm or cold.

Filling:
1 tablespoon ghee + 1/4 cup butternut squash + 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie/ginger bread spice mix + 1/4 cup raw sugar = blend together till smooth. Spread onto dough. Sprinkle with handful chopped walnuts or pecans (optional).

Ginger Syrup:
Finely dice 1/2- 1 tablespoon fresh peeled ginger. Fry in a little ghee till caramelized. Add in 2 tablespoon raw sugar and cook till sugar is syrupy. Pour in 1/4 cup water and a squeeze of lemon juice and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in another 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar. Drizzle to taste over hot rolls. Reserve any remaining syrup for other uses - such as over ice cream, to sweeten tea or stir into tomato soup.

Twirly Swirly Organic Nature

I haven't made sweet rolls in about 3 months. The last time I did was for my birthday. Now we have Easter this weekend and I've decided that despite this Primal lifestyle that I've been trying to adopt - we would go ahead with some of our new traditions... by making bunny buns again. Only this time I added some turmeric to make them extra yellow-orange and I added in some other alternative flours. The ratio of all purpose flour to the Primal approved flours is still like 85/15 but every little bit helps I'm sure. I had a mixture of flax seed, chia seed and quinoa flour that I used... and I didn't want to add too much to this recipe because that might change the way it rises. Luckily we didn't have any problems. We also used butter in place of oil and honey in place of sugar. They turned out yummy. [Found a traditional bunny bun shape here]


And in case any one is wondering, it is not hard to adopt the Primal Blueprint - and I have lost weight effortlessly, but it is hard to do it all the time especially when other people in the house are not on the PB and there are Easter treats around. But I will start up again Tuesday - after the Holiday :)


Okay, so earlier today I did my first post using my Android application for Blogger and it didn't work. I can't find the post that I supposedly posted. I may have accidently selected for it to post later, in which case I should be able to find it as "scheduled" and still in my post list, but it's just not there... and it was such a nice post about Nature... in any event, I shall try to recall my wording again - doubt it will sound as good the 2nd time...


I was out in the garden and noticed that one particular plant we have has a twirly swirly way in which it grows. It's the fern. It starts out like a ball and then it shoots out "branches" of curly twirly whirly swirly green organic sweet rolls. I have some photos to prove it.

Pretty cool huh?!

The Drawing

One Sunday during our regular church meeting Kailea drew this family in the park - it's got kids on the swing set dressed like mini Zwarte Piets and on the left side a picknick featuring sweet rolls!


Ah ha - I thought it was so creative of her to just come up with something like that. Plus, I know you all can't see the progress she's made, but there is progress in her drawings, for example, these figures have shoulders! No more stick figures and she's only 5 1/2! My children are such artists!

Spoonflower sweet rolls designs

In the month of December, I did something different. Yes, I did bake some sweet rolls, and when I have the time I may or may not publish those here...


What I did was a designed some sweet roll designs for fabric and put them over at Spoonflower.com. I also entered some in a few contests.


See here:

Coordinates Sweet Rolls Design - pastel and kawaii, stripes and dots, garden border motif

Recipe Sweet Rolls Contest

It was fun to do... I don't know if I will continue with sweet roll designs or sweet roll recipes for that matter... because I'm doing something totally new and different for 2012... I'm completely redesigning - myself!


And I'm so happy to finally be taking the plunge... here's to a healthy more energetic new year and new me!