Lifings

A drizzly, chilly, cuddly, homemade cinnamon roll kind of day.

-Cottage Cheese Cinnamon Rolls-

Ingredients:

For The Dough:

¾ cup Cottage Cheese (I use fat free, they turn out great.)
⅓ cup 1/2 mixture of plain yogurt, 1/2 mixture milk
¼ cup Granulated Sugar
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) Unsalted Butter, melted
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
9 oz. (2 cups) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour; More For Rolling
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Table Salt
¼ tsp. Baking Soda

For The Filling:

¾ oz. (1-½ Tbs.) Unsalted Butter, melted
⅔ cup Packed Light Or Dark Brown Sugar
1-½ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp. Ground Allspice
¼ tsp. Ground Cloves
1 cup (4 oz.) Chopped Pecans

For The Glaze:

2-½ oz. (scant ⅔ cup) Confectioners' Sugar
2 To 3 Tbs. Cold Whole Or Low-Fat Milk
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

Make the dough:

In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese, yogurt/milk concoction, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (don’t overprocess). The dough will be soft and moist.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with floured hands 4 or 5 times until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12x15-inch rectangle.

Make the filling:

Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a ½-inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and pat gently into the surface. Sprinkle the nuts over the sugar mixture.

Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal, and leave the ends open.

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan; they should fill the pan and touch slightly, but don’t worry if there are small gaps.

Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 28 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a spatula around the inside edge of the pan and remove the springform ring. Transfer the rolls to a serving plate.

Delicious.







I ate SIX of these today...