Cinnamon Roll Bread

I have never made cinnamon rolls from scratch. It just seems like far too much work when you can buy a roll of them to bake from the grocery. My family would love to have cinnamon rolls every day of the week, and I strive to make the start of the school mornings delightful for them. Unfortunately the Pilsbury or Cinnabon rolls are a bit expensive. How could I make cinnamon rolls quick and easily and from scratch?

Someone else already found the solution: Quick and Easy Cinnamon Bun Bread. When I found this recipe for "quick" cinnamon roll bread, I was a bit uncertain but wanted to give it a try. The results exceeded my expectations. A sweet gooey mess of cinnamon ecstasy! Really, it was.


Why this is a terrific recipe:
It truly is quick and easy.
The taste and texture is true to cinnamon buns.
The dough is not messy, rather like a batter that thickens as it rests.
My only regret was we had no milk to accompany the bread!

Quick Cinnamon Roll Bread
adapted from Baking Bites recipe

Dough
3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 teaspoons yeast
1 2/3 cups milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs

Cinnamon Topper
1 stick butter {8 tablespoons}, brought to room temperature
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Icing
1 3/4 cups powdered
5 tablespoons cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

All cinnamon roads lead to happiness!

Directions
1. Grease a 9x13 dish. Heat milk until warm {I used a glass pyrex measuring cup and heated the milk for 1 minutes}. Add yeast to milk and lightly stir.

2. Combine flour, salt and sugar in mixing bowl. Add oil, eggs, vanilla and yeast mixture. Stir to combine well, scraping the sides of the bowl. {This doesn't make a true dough, rather a batter that will thicken.} Pour batter into prepared dish and let rest for 15 minutes. {Watch it slowly bubble like pancakes do on a griddle.}

3. Place butter, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. With a fork, mix all together. Place small bits of cinnamon topping onto batter, trying to scatter evenly.

4. Place cake pan in oven and set to 350 F. Cook for 28-32 minutes until golden and spongy. Cool for 20 minutes.

5. Mix powdered sugar, cream and vanilla til smooth. Spread over slightly cooled bread. Cut and serve. Serves 12-16.


This recipe was very forgiving. I had to improvise for lack of ingredients such using canned milk in place of regular. A bit of raw sugar was used to supplement the brown needed. The last blunder was the yeast. In most cases I doubled the ingredients but forgot to with the yeast. It worked out beautifully. But isn't that what most school morning are like, a bit hectic?