The Best Eggless Cinnamon Rolls

Buttery, pillow-y and so easy to make! These will leave your home smelling like a bakery in fall!

Few things before you get started:

• Read all about baking with yeast here

• It is crucial to give ample amount of rising time to get that soft pillow-y texture which is why we double proof in this recipe

• You can place the rolls close to each other, that way they all bake together in a pull-apart sort of situation. But you can bake them all individually, just place them about 2 inches away from each other in the baking sheet

• You can experiment with the filling and add coffee, shredded coconut, cocoa powder, etc. to switch things up a little bit. You can also add hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts or pecans to give it some crunch

• The proportions of sugar, butter and cinnamon in the filling are optional and depend more on your taste and how strong you want it, so don't hesitate in experimenting there

• You can use 1 egg and replace the water in the recipe. Although the taste doesn't change, the egg acts as a binder in the dough making it less tacky and easier to pull together. I've tried the recipe both ways and I end up making the eggless version more

Ingredients:

Dough -

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 1+1/4 tsp active dry yeast

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4th cup sugar (set aside 1 tablespoon sugar for yeast)

• 1 tsp wheat gluten

• 40 grams butter (softened at room temperature)

• Splash of vanilla

Filling-

• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

• 50 grams butter (softened at room temperature)

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (or to taste)

• 1 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Start by proofing your yeast. Mix your milk, water and sugar. Heat in microwave till it reaches 110-115 F. Sprinkle the yeast and set aside. Read in detail about yeast here

2. While the yeast is proofing, prepare your dry ingredients for the dough. Mix together the flour, sugar and gluten

3. Add the proofed yeast mixture, butter and vanilla to the dry ingredients and pull the mixture together into a dough

4. The dough would still be tacky and stick to surfaces. Dust with a little bit of flour if need be

5. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and set it aside to rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour or until double in volume

6. Punch down the dough and roll it out until into a rectangle until it is quarter of an inch thick (about 60cm X 30cm)

7. Make the filling by combining butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix until its a thick paste

8. Spread the filling onto the rolled out dough evenly. Roll the dough length-wise (to get more spirals). Cut the rolled log into 8-10 equal pieces

9. Prepare a large baking pan with some parchment paper. Place the rolls cut-side up about an inch apart from each other. Loosely cover them and let them rise for another half an hour. At this point, start pre-heating your oven at 190C

10. Brush the rolls with milk wash and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

11. You can mix a little bit of icing sugar with water to make some glaze to drizzle on top!

* For a video walkthrough visit @Amai_by_Kanika on Instagram