Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!  May the next 35 be just as sweet.  🙂

Much like in marriage, sometimes with baking it takes a few tries to get it right: Finally…the wait on these cinnamon rolls did not disappoint.  🙂  Last week I tried to make a “quick” recipe…but I’m learning that there isn’t always a “quick” way to bake with whole grains.  🙂  That’s ok, cause it’s always worth the extra time and effort.

I began by altering America’s Test Kitchen’s basic sweet dough recipe:

3/4 c almond milk, warm
6 tablespoons organic butter melted and cooled till warm
3 large eggs
4 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (ground from organic wheat berries)
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp sea salt

Set aside some ingredients for the filling and topping:

1 tbs melted butter
1/4 – 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 1/4 tsp apple pie spice (mostly cinnamon & a pinch ground cloves)
1/4 tsp sea salt

Then I applied Tanya’s 1/2 flour & yeast technique:

1. In blender, mix almond milk, butter, and eggs together.  Add yeast and allow to dissolve.  Mix half of the flour (2 cups) on low speed until dough comes together. (about 2 minutes).  Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add remaining flour and mix on medium for 8-10 minutes until a smooth, elastic dough is formed.
3. On counter, knead dough by hand for about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a greased bowl (I use coconut oil), cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place (our oven on “warm”) until it has doubled in size (1 1/2- 2 hours).
4. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured counter, into a rectangle.  Brush dough with butter and sprinkle spice/salt mixture atop.
5. Roll dough into alog/cylinder and pinch the seam closed.  Roll over seam-side down.  Cut into 12 evenly sized rolls using a serrated knife.
6. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with coconut oil.  Pour half of the syrup on the bottom of the pan.  Evenly space rolls in pan (cut side down), leaving room between each roll…on top of syrup.  Cover tops of rolls with remaining syrup.  (You could also add chopped raw nuts on top too…probably 1/4 cup).
7. Again allow to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
9. Allow to cool and Enjoy!