Let's take a break(fast) shall we?

Nicole is right, I just can't seem to be stop putting things in jars. I think N was beginning to think he'd never get a cake or cookie again, but yesterday I decided it was time to put a stop to the preserving madness, pause, take stock and make some breakfast.

N and I have been discussing how I should go back to some of the recipes that were either a great success, or needed some adjustment, and make them again or have another go. With the weekend looming, and finally a lie-in, I decided it was time to get the flour out again and actually bake.

Remember these?


They were so delicious and I am ashamed to say that they only got made on two occasions. Only two. A total travesty. So I decided it was time to revisit them, and also to see if I could successfully veganise them.

We're having a brief spell without dairy at the moment, a mixture of health stuff and a response to our total cheese binge over Christmas. We're doing pretty well so far, we've been without cheese since the first week of January (the longest I've ever managed it, and given my obsession with cheese on toast it's been tough), and the past few weeks (post-river cottage) we've managed to cut out everything else. However I refuse to go without my baked treats so I'm expanding my skills a bit to include vegan versions of things. It's pretty handy considering one of my close friends is vegan. It means that not only do I have some experience of this kind of thing, but I will be able to make her more treats in the future as I expand my repertoire. I was really pleased with the outcome of the cinnamon rolls. I think you'd have a hard time telling that they're vegan, the only slight difference is that you don't get the slight buttery flavour in the dough and the filling, but this didn't stop me from polishing off two this morning for breakfast, so I doubt anyone's really going to notice.


Here is my recipe for a batch of about 12 rolls. I was halving my original recipe, which is why some of the measurements might seem a bit weird.

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

1 1/8 tsp active yeast
1/2 c. warm milk
1/4 c. granulated sugar
half of 1/3 c. vegan margarine, melted
1 pinch salt
20g egg replacer (+ 55ml water)
2 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:

1/2 c. muscovado sugar
1 1/4 TBS. cinnamon
half of 1/3 c. vegan margarine, melted


Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Add the the sugar, margarine, salt & egg replacer powder and water and combine well. Add flour and mix until the dough forms.
Knead the dough into a ball and leave in the bowl, covered with a tea towel, somewhere warm to rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.

When doubled in size turn out onto a floured surface and roll the dough flat until it is a large rectangle. It should be about ¼ inch thick.

Preheat oven to 200C

Mix the muscovado sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the melted margarine evenly over the surface of the dough, and then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the top.

Roll the dough from the long side down to the bottom edge as if making a swiss roll or roulade.

Cut the rolled dough into 1 ¾ inch slices and put, evenly spaced, on a lightly greased baking pan. Let the rolls rise again until doubled in size (about 30 min.). Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden on top. (mine took about 20 mins.)

I make mine the day before and then re-heat in a 160C oven until just warm, about 5-7 mins. I also glazed mine this morning with a bit of lemon icing. I juiced half a lemon and then added enough icing sugar to get a slightly thickened syrup, I then drizzled it over the warm rolls and immediately scoffed two with my coffee. That's what weekends are about.