Lila Lavender Blog: Lavender Cinnamon Rolls

Welcome to my kitchen!

The weather forecast promised me two days of rain, which would have been great for my garden. Somehow they got it all wrong, but I am in my baking mood now, rain or shine.

I would like to share some absolutely finger licking good cinnamon rolls with you...and who would have guessed....I make it a lavender variation.

It is a bit time consuming, so pick a rainy day if you can.

Here is what you need for the dough:
(yields a 9" x 13" pan)

Bread Flour: 700 g
Salt: 2 tsp
Sugar: 55 g
Butter: 75 g (melted and cooled down)
Egg (medium): 1
Milk (homo, or 2%): 500 ml
Dry Yeast: 2 tsp

Weigh all the ingredients put them aside and have them warm up to room temperatures.

I usually mix the yeast and a little bit of the milk in a cup to get the yeast started. Feed the yeast with a teaspoon of sugar and set the cup aside. The yeast will start bubbling after a few minutes in the milk with the sugar. The time frame for this to happen depends mainly on the temperature of the milk. The cooler the milk the longer it will take. You can cheat a little bit here and slightly warm the milk up, but not too hot, otherwise the yeast does not do anything anymore. The rise of the yeast in the milk/sugar mix is what you are waiting for.

Take your flour bowl and make a hole in the middle. This hole is to put your yeast mixture, sugar, salt, egg, butter, and milk into. To begin mixing, slowly mix in circles around the liquids and incorporate the flour into the center. You are more than welcome to do this with your hands, but a wooden spoon works well too. (I preferred a wooden spoon today, since I had to take the photographs and dough and my camera do not mix very well) When the ingredients are all combined take the ball of dough and continue mixing it on the counter top. Yes, I know, it is a bit of a mess! Try not to add any additional flour, either to the dough, to your hands, nor to the counter top. It is the right thing to do, trust me on that, you can clean up later with a kitchen scraper (spatula). What you are looking for is a nice, soft and shiny (sticky too) ball of dough.

Now it is time to rest! ...the dough, of course...

Cover the bowl with cling wrap, and/or a clean kitchen towel and place the bowl with the dough in a nice warm and draft free place. Let the dough almost double in size.

In the meantime start preparing the filling.

You need:
Melted Butter: approx. 50 g
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons culinary lavender
2 tablespoons cinnamon powder

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the butter.

Now back to the dough. Place the dough on the now floured counter top and roll with a rolling pin into a rectangular shape.

Use a brush and brush the melted butter onto the dough. Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, lavender mixture evenly onto the dough.

Use a knife or pizza wheel and cut the dough length wise into strips. The width of the strips will determine the height of the finished roll, whereas the length of the strip determines the diameter. Roll the strips lose because the dough will continue rising. Place the rolls into a slightly buttered backing pan with space between the rolls. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
While the oven is preheating allow the rolls to rise in a warm spot.
Bake the rolls for 30 min.

What to do within the next 30 minutes?
Prepare the frosting!

You need:
1 lb cream cheese (full fat)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream, or even better, table cream (..why not..)