One dough: two yummy treats

One of the easiest ways we have cut carbs (and sugar for Wee Ski 2.0) is by avoiding breads.  But, I'll tell you, when you have a craving for an easy recipe that makes two treats in one...this is it!

The basic sweet dough is used to make dinner rolls, and while those are rising, to whip up a batch of cinnamon rolls for the next morning.  It's perfect because it's one normal batch size: so you get a handful of rolls (9ish) and mini cinnamon rolls (7ish)...so they hit the spot without sending you into carb overload for a week.  :)

Here's what you need...

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 egg (room temp)
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar (I usually use half sugar, half splenda)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used brown sugar splenda)
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon (I used Penzey's Apple Pie spice)

You can make the dough one of two ways...in a bread machine (easiest) or by hand (still easy, and burns calories).

THE BREAD MACHINE
Layer the ingredients in the order recommended by the manufacturer: water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, white sugar, kosher salt, flour and dry yeast.  Select the dough cycle and press start.

BY HAND

Dissolve the yeast and 1 TB of sugar in warm water, let sit for 10 minutes.  Warm milk in saucepan, just until it bubbles.  Remove from heat, stir in butter and sugar and cool to lukewarm.  In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, the milk mixture and egg.  Stir in the flour a little at a time and knead on a lightly floured surface.  Cover and let rise for an hour. 

By the end of the rising (in the machine or by hand), you'll have a big lump of dough.  Divide it in half -- half for the dinner rolls and half for the cinnamon rolls.



Divide the dough into nine mounds of dough.  Take half the remaining softened butter (about an 1/8 of a cup), and mix a little of the butter with each mound.  Each mound can be rolled into a ball (Thomas's preferred method) or can be divided again into 3 mini balls of dough (my preferred method).  Place the single ball or the 3 mini balls into the ungreased muffin tin.  The single ball will create a normal roll, the 3 mini balls will create a cloverleaf roll.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour.  Preheat the oven to 400°. 


While those rolls are rising, take the other half of dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface.  Use the remaining 1/8 cup of butter and smooth it over the dough. Mix the brown sugar + cinnamon together and spread over the dough. 


All the way to the edge.  Then roll the dough up tightly. 


Using unwaxed dental floss or kitchen twine, cut the rolled up dough into slices about an inch or so thick. 


Neatly place the rolls side by side into a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until the morning.  In the morning, you'll preheat the oven to 400° and bake the rolls for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.  Immediately flip them over so the sugary goodness isn't wasted in the bottom of the dish.  :)


Back to the dinner rolls!

After the rising, place the muffin tin in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden.  Tasty delicious. 


These are the dinner rolls that Jonathan and Thomas fight over.  This conversation happened last week and I posted it to Facebook that night...it went something along these lines...

So I hand Jonathan a homemade dinner roll. He breaks it in half and reaches for the butter.
Then a tiny little hand steals the other half.
"Thomas, whose roll is that?"
"Mine." [takes a bite]
"Are you sure? Whose roll is that?"
"Un-coo Jehwy's."
"Uncle Jerry's? Uncle Jerry is eating my roll?"
"Yes." [takes another bite]

 It's the perfect amount of sweet bread goodness over two meals that satisfies.  YUM.