Myth Busted

My mum recently made a comment that preggies can't get bread to rise and the reason for my recent scone & wholemeal bread attempt failures. Now that just re-ignited the rebellious streak in me. And I chose a supposedly foolproof recipe from my reliable blogger baker HHB - Cinnamon Rolls. Ok, my son loves raisins so I added them as well.

Why it's foolproof? Cos there is no need for any kneading or reaching the elastic state which is way too tiring for my hands. Why no kneading required? Simple, as baking soda is used. This agent rises the bread and make it "holey", thus the fluffiness of the bread.

Hence, I went. Prepared the mixture and proved it for a while before I chucked the pot into the fridge for safekeeping. This morning, I rolled it, baked it and viola! They were good! Especially when the butter overflowed and melted the base of the rolls, they felt like fried bread rolls. Very nice, crispy & soft! And yes, myth busted!

Oh, since I had little faith when I just began, I halved the recipe. It was just enough for my small family for breakfast. Also, my rolls were too flat and had too little twirls in them. Next time I'll do the entire recipe and make sure my rolls are BIG BIG.

The ends for my son.

Enjoying the fruit of his labor. He added the raisins. :)

Cinnamon Raisin Rolls (No Knead)

Makes 12-15 rolls

Ingredients: 

Main bread dough 
250ml (1 cup) milk
50g (1/4 cup) sugar (I used brown sugar)
62.5ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Instant yeast
250g (2 cups) + 30g (1/4 cup) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon (scant) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt


For the filling:
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
50g (1/4 cup) sugar (I used brown sugar)
50g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted


Method:

1. Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins ~ 1 hour.
2. Place 250g plain flour and Instant yeast to the pan. Stir with a spatula until the mixture comes together to form a thick batter. Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.
3. Add in the remaining 30g flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Either go ahead to make the rolls or cover and leave to chill in fridge for 1-2 days until needed. If left to chill, check the dough and punch it down by folding with a spatula if the dough rises almost to the rim of the pan. (Note: dough will be more firm and easier to work with if left to chill in fridge).
4. Dust the work surface freely with flour. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Then roll out as thin as possible. Make sure your hands are floured too.
5. Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter, cinnamon and sugar evenly over the surface in that order.
6. Start from the opposite end of the dough, roll the dough neatly in a line towards you. Roll as tightly as possible. Dust fingers with flour if the dough feels sticky. Pinch the seams to seal.
7. Cut into 1 inch thick slices and arrange on baking pan lined with parchment paper. Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.
8. Cover and leave to rise for 30mins (1 hour if dough was left to chill over night) or until the rolls double in size. (Note: the rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and bake them the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size, bake them right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until double in size before baking.)
9. Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 20mins until golden brown