Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Butter

Have you ever wondered how everything looks difficult before you try it?  When you look at something or someone in action, it is very common to think that the 'show piece' involves 'rocket science'. Some probably involve 'rocket science', but most don't. When we try and make it, the feeling is 'Why was I so afraid to try it before? It wasn't hard at all'.
I made Cinnamon rolls couple of years back for the first time. I had referred to couple of recipes and I even went and watched the videos of making cinnamon rolls. But when I did make them, it was so easy that I thought the 'home work' was unnecessary. I probably don't need to look at any cinnamon roll recipe any more.

If you have read couple of posts of mine on this blog, you will realize one thing. I am neither against using 'butter' nor I am a lover of 'butter' like Paula Deen is. I am alright with using butter in moderation. But, if there is a way I can get away from not using butter and still make the dish come out delicious, you bet I'll try it out. I had a bottle of 'Apple Butter' and I used that instead of part of butter and used whole wheat flour and made some healthy cinnamon rolls. Taste wise, these were awesome. I neither glazed the rolls nor did I use frosting since the apple butter made it gooey and sticky and very yummy I should add.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour - 3 cups
• Vital Wheat gluten - 3 TBSP (You can skip this if you use bread flour instead of whole wheat flour)
• Active dry yeast - 2 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Apple butter - 1/2 cup
• Warm water - 1/2 cup
• Silken Tofu - 1/2 cup (blended)(You can use yogurt, sour cream or 2 eggs in its place)
• Sugar - 4 TBSP or 1/4 cup
• Butter - 4 TBSP or 1/2 a stick

For filling:

• Apple Butter - 1/2 cup
• Brown sugar and raw sugar mixture - 1/3 cup or less (You could use just brown sugar and omit raw sugar)
• Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp (Go easy on this since apple butter already has cinnamon and cloves in it)

Method:
In a large bowl, take the warm water. Add sugar to it and sprinkle yeast on it. Let it stand till frothy about 10 minutes. Then add the blended silken tofu, apple butter, salt and room temperature butter. Mix well and slowly start adding the whole wheat flour and vital wheat gluten. Make a smooth dough and knead it about 10 minutes or till elastic. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Place the bowl in a warm place and let it rest till double about 45 minutes. Deflate the dough and on a lightly floured surface, start rolling the dough in a rectangle of 12 X10 inch size.
On the rolled dough, spread apple butter leaving 1/2 an inch on all sides. On apple butter, sprinkle the brown sugar, raw sugar, cinnamon mixture
evenly.
Take a 13 X 9 pan and spray with vegetable oil spray. Now, from the long side of the rolled dough, start making a tight roll. Objective is to get the log of 12 " so that you can cut into 12 slices to get 12 rolls. When the whole dough has been rolled, slice into 1" discs. Best way to slice these is by using dental floss (non mint one) or a very sharp knife. Place the rolls cut side down so that you are seeing the spiral in the prepared pan. Place 4 rolls in each row and make three rows to get 12 rolls. Cover with an aluminum foil and let it rise for about 45 minutes. Towards the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake for 30 minutes or till golden. The rolls look a little dark even when they weren't overdone due to apple butter in the dough and in the filling. But, man were they delicious.

For those who haven't heard of 'Apple Butter' before (I have used it in many recipes on this blog), it is very similar to applesauce. Process of making any fruit butter (ex: pumpkin butter) is to boil the fruit puree for a very long time to remove all the moisture and add sugar and spices. Apple butter usually has cloves and cinnamon and pumpkin butter might have ginger, allspice, cloves, cinnamon and possibly nutmeg. Many people use it as a spread on crackers, bread but I use it in baking. Go figure with my love for 'baking'.

I am submitting these rolls to 'Yeast Spotting' hosted here.

You can get 'Apple Butter' in most of the grocery stores in the same isle where you find applesauce.

Happy Baking!!