Cran-Apple Cider and Pumpkin Pie Sweet Rolls

At our annual Church Christmas Dinner this year I brought home-made Cran-Apple Cider. I tripled the recipe and discovered that hot cider is not that popular among the Dutch - and maybe it was also because we had a small turn out this year. The food was good, though. Well, I wasn't just gonna let all that cider go to waste so I brought it back home. We've been drinking it cold - the kids like it a lot better this way, and admittedly, I do, too. Then I got to thinking, like I always do - how about cider in sweet rolls. Heck, why not? I used Root Beer last week - so this week I used cider.

(I'll post the Root Beer Sweet Roll recipes next week probably. I've also got a Eggnog Sweet Roll recipe in the works.)

Usually, less is more. True for a lot of things. But this time, not only did I use the cran-apple cider, but I paired it with pumpkin pie filling (like Oh She Glows) and added in fresh cranberries and holiday apple pie muesli.

The thing I liked best about these rolls - they were sweet and tart! And even though I don't yet have a top 10 favorite rolls list on here... if I did - this one would be on the top 10 - that's how good they are.

This was also my first time baking with cranberries. I totally like cranberries now. I'm going to go out into blogdom and look for more cranberry recipes to try. I found one already - tomorrow will be a good day to try them: Fresh Cranberry Orange Cookies.

It seems I'm not the only one baking sweet rolls with cranberries. Yesterday I saw these: Cranberry Sweet Rolls at Bravetart by Stella Parks. Hers look super tasty. Cranberry with cream cheese topping - can't go wrong with that!

Do you have a favorite recipe to bake with cranberries? Do share!

Recipe: Cran-Apple Cider + Pumpkin Pie Sweet Rolls
Makes 12 large rolls

1 cup warm cran-apple cider
1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 egg
1/4 cup oil or melted margarine or shortening
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour

Filling:

• 1/2 cup Libby's pumpkin pie filling or make your own. I did. Here's what I did. Combine 1/2 cup canned plain pumpkin puree plus 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg plus 1/8 teaspoon ginger plus smidgen ground clove plus 1/4 cup light brown sugar.
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, washed and rinsed
• 1 cup Cruesli brand Appel Taart cereal or similar

Glaze:
175 - 250 grams powdered sugar
3 tablespoons cran-apple cider
1 tablespoon butter

Optional: sugar crystals

1. Dissolve yeast in warm cran-apple cider. Let bubble.
2. Add egg and melted margarine. Blend well.
3. Stir in salt and flour and blend till elastic, not too sticky doughy ball.
4. Knead 6-8 minutes on lightly floured surface. Very important step here - don't skip it.
5. Butter bowl. Put dough in bowl and turn to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place. I use the oven - I put at a very low temperature - the lowest temperature and that's a nice warm place for dough to rise.
6. Punch down dough. Let rest 5 - 10 minutes. You gotta have a lot of patience with sweet rolls - just wait a bit now.
7. You can prepare the filling while you wait. Over low heat in a small pan warm the pumpkin pie mix and butter till gently warm and butter melted.
8. Roll out dough into large rectangular shape about 1 centimeter thick. Yeah, if it's too thin, it might rip when you are rolling it up and we are really gonna stuff a lot in there this time so do what I suggest, eh ;)
9. Spread with pumpkin pie filling. Sprinkle cereal and cranberries evenly over top (as shown in photo).
10. Roll up jelly roll style. Careful this time because there is a lot in there and we want it to stay in the dough. Cut into 12 equal slices. Place on prepared baking sheet or buttered casserole dish if you like them snuggled up together. Let rise a second time. Again I do this in the oven - about 50-degrees C works for me - only 30 minutes and then we're ready to bake!
11. Bake rolls in hot air oven at 175-degrees C for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden. Adjust time for other ovens - sorry you'll have to figure that out yourself - as all ovens are a bit different.
12. Prepare glaze. Again in a small pan over very low heat melt butter and stir in cran-apple cider and enough powdered sugar for desired spreading consistency. Remove rolls from oven and while still hot pour glaze over top. Or if you want to really see the glaze a bit more, let them cool a bit first, then add topping. If you really want it thicker add more powdered sugar - then it will have more of a cake frosting consistency. It's really up to you how you like it. I also sprinkled some red sugar crystals on because my husband likes the crunchy sugar. Just go wild!

Oh how they glisten - drizzled with glaze - and sprinkled with sugar!

Up close and personal with my sweet roll

Hmmmm-mmmm. Delish.

Honey-nut Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Last time I made pumpkin sweet rolls I combined it with orange and spice (cinnamon and ginger) and I’m not sure the orange complimented the pumpkin as nicely as I had hoped. We still ate them up - and I was thinking that the ginger overpowered the other flavors as well. The orange glaze was so totally yum and I’d definitely do something with that again - I was thinking just a vanilla-orange-creamsicle type roll.... oh well, another day for that one.
So, I’ve been thinking about this totally amazing frosting that I like using Paturain cream cheese - walnut variety. The French really do know their cheeses - especially soft creamy cheeses. I love the walnut Paturain blend. It goes great into frosting - and I’ve used it before many times. I was thinking it would go great on top pumpkin sweet rolls. So, might as well throw some honey and walnuts into the center of the rolls as well.

This combination turned out really REALLY rich and sweet. And I thought it was just right on. I really do love that Paturain walnut cream cheese - would go great with many other varities of cinnamon rolls.

And I've been thinking - a sweet roll isn't really done until it is glazed, frosted or iced. I need that extra helping of sweetness on top. I love it.


Dough:
1 T Active dry Yeast
1- ½ C Luke warm water
¾ C Pureed pumpkin
¼ C Oil or melted margarine
5 to 6 C BASIC ROLL MIX
1 t Ground cinnamon
1 t coffee granules

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix in pumpkin puree, melted margarine or oil and BASIC ROLL MIX as well as cinnamon and coffee granules. Knead about 6-8 minutes until dough is smooth. Lighty butter bowl. Put dough in bowl and turn to butter top. Cover dough with damp towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in warm place until doubled in size - about 1 hour. Meanwhile prepare Honey Filling and baking sheets (use baking paper for easy clean-up).

Honey Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts)

In a small bowl, combine sugar, honey, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Mix thoroughly. Set aside. Punch down dough. Let stand 10 minutes. On a lightly-floured surface, roll out dough to large rectangle 12”x24” or divide in half and roll out two smaller rectangles about 8”x12”. Spread with Honey filling. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over top. Roll up jelly-roll style and cute into 1-inch slices. Place on prepared baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375-F or 190-C (Hot air oven - just about 175-C). Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Prepare frosting and drizzle on warm buns. Garnish with extra chopped nuts if desired. Makes about 24 rolls.

*Paturain Cream Cheese Frosting: (Option 1)
1/4 cup (55 grams) butter, softened
1/4 pound (115 grams) Paturain walnut cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 to 2 cups (about 250 grams) powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons pureed pumpkin

Beat together butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add in powdered sugar and pumpkin puree until desired spreading consistency.

*If Paturain cream cheese is not available where you live, try Option 2:
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon honey

Melt butter and allow to cool. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, brown sugar and almond extract. Beat with an electric mixer. When mixture starts to stiffen, stop mixer and add honey. Continue to beat until light and fluffy. Do not over mix, or it will collapse.

Or if you really don’t like cream cheese, like some picky people I know, try Option 3:

White Chocolate Pumpkin-Cinnamon Frosting:
¼ cup pureed pumpkin (canned or fresh)
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
2 tablespoons white chocolate pieces, melted
1 teaspoon liquid cinnamon extract
1 3/4 to 2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk to thin, if desired

Beat pumpkin, margarine or butter, and melted white chocolate together till creamy. Mix in cinnamon extract and powdered sugar. Add milk to thin if required for spreading consistency.

Use any option of frosting/glaze and you won’t be sorry... but my personal favorite is option 1.

Orange, Pumpkin and Spice Sweet Rolls - Another Sugar High Friday

Today is the first day of Fall - and an appropriate time to bake with pumpkin. I wanted to do another Sugar High Friday challenge and this time Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen a food blog has challenged all interested to make bite size desserts. It's been a whole month since I last baked and after a month of not baking - I was finally in the mood to bake again. Not that I haven't been in the mood for sweet rolls - I have been! It's just that since my bun in the oven - my own little sweet roll was born - I've been rather busy... and sleepy.

Yes, my third little child - another little girl was born just at the end of August. She's just about one month old and this Momma was ready to do something for me today - bake sweet rolls. But today was not just about me - I wanted to bake sweet rolls also for the nurses at the Catharina Ziekenhuis (hospital) here in Eindhoven. You see - me and my baby girl had to spend a whole week in the hospital because the morning after she was born, she got a fever and was breathing heavily. She was covered in wires and tubes and I was one nervous Momma. I didn't know what had come over her. And neither did the doctors. She had several tests done and then we were stuck away in isolation - kind of a quarantine type room. The nurses took real good care of us but it was a lonesome week - although I did get lots of rest! I promised one of the nurses that I would bring back sweet rolls as a thank you - and I kept my promise - I did!
 I'm also happy to report that my little girl has been given the OK - she had a follow up with the Pediatrician and everything is good. That chapter in her life is closed. Nothing wrong :) I'm really grateful to all the nurses and doctors that helped her... and to all my family and friends - your prayers are so much appreciated (of course, if you would like sweet rolls for a thank you - you will need to come and visit us - and give me 72 hours advance notice - ha ha ha).
I'm also grateful for this S.H.F. challenge - to make bite size desserts. I like to usually bake the biggest sweet rolls - but this was fun because the kids don't really need to eat such big desserts... and I feel like I'm really getting a lot out of the recipe. You would think that because the rolls are smaller that I eat less of them - I probably should - but they are so sugary sweet - I just couldn't help myself -- hey -- breastfeeding burns like 600 calories a day -- so that's my excuse -- I need to eat more ;)


Yumminess!

Orange, Pumpkin and Spice Sweet Rolls (the recipe... trial 1)
Makes 40-48 bite size desserts

DOUGH:
1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh grated orange zest
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

FILLING:
3 tablespoons each butter, melted and canned pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons each ground ginger and ground cinnamon
2/3 cup light brown sugar

GLAZE:
250 grams powdered sugar
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice 1-2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest

12 step program for sweet rolls that rock!
Step 1. In small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Set aside.
Step 2. In small sauce pan, bring buttermilk to boil until curdled.
Step 3. In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, baking soda, sugar, melted margarine, pumpkin, orange zest and egg. Mix well.
Step 4. When mixture is luke warm, stir in yeast mixture.
Step 5. Mix in salt and flour 1/2 cup at a time - eventually knead until soft and elastic ball of dough.
Step 6. Oil bowl. Put in dough and turn to oil top of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place till doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Step 7. Prepare filling. Cream melted butter and pumpkin. Stir in spices.

Step 8. Punch down dough. Divide in half. Roll out each half into long rectangle about 18 inches by 9 inches - about 1 centimeter thick. Spread pumpkin butter over dough and sprinkle brown sugar over. Roll up - jelly roll style and slice into 20-24 slices each roll.
Step 9. Place on prepared baking sheets - cut side up. Let rise second time until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 175 degrees-C.
Step 10. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and rolls spring back when touched. Be careful not to burn.
Step 11. Prepare glaze. Stir together powdered sugar and juice till glaze is spreading consistency. Stir in zest.
Step 12. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.



Use disposable tins - easier to give :)

Place at least one inch apart on prepared baking sheet (Step 9)

   

Can't wait to eat 'em!

Note to self: use more pumpkin in trial 2 - the orangeyness was perfect but the pumpkin was lacking in strength...I would like more pumpkin flavor.