Eat: Chai Spice Cinnamon Rolls

I love these for a Fall Sunday.

Dough:
4 ½ cups all purpose flour     1 package active dry yeast     3 Tablespoons corn starch
½ milk     ½ chai tea concentrate     ⅓ cup butter (cut up)     ⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt     2 eggs

Filling:
½ cup brown sugar     2 tablespoon ground cinnamon     1 tablespoon nutmeg     ½ butter, softened

Icing:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar     5 tablespoons chai tea concentrate     1 tablespoon milk

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1 ½ cups of flour and the yeast. Heat milk and chai concentrate in a medium saucepan until just warm, stirring often. Add butter, sugar, and salt; stir to mix together and stop just before butter melts completely. Add to flour mixture along with the eggs. Beat together, scraping the sides of the bowl to get all of the flour bits. Add in the remaining flour slowly, until all of it has been incorporated.

2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface- I like a giant wooden cutting board we have. Knead the dough 3 to 5 minutes until you have smooth, elastic dough, Shape the dough into a ball. grease the bottom of a bowl (I like using a vegetable oil spray) and put the dough in the bowl, then lightly spray the top with oil. Cover the dough and place it in a warm area that is draft free. Let the dough rise until it doubles- around 50 minutes. Take this time clean up!

Dough, ready to rise.

3. Punch the dough down (it is as fun as it sounds) and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Let it rest for another 10 minutes. In the meantime grease a 13x9x2 inch pan if you want to cook these right away. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, and cinnamon; set aside.

Chai spice filling.

Ready to be rolled out!

4. Roll dough into a 18x12 inch rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough, leaving a ½  inch border on one of the longer sides. Sprinkle filling mixture on the buttered surface, coating evenly and leave a 1 inch border on the same side that has the ½ inch border. Roll up the rectangle, starting from the filled long side, rolling to the side with a border. Pinch dough to seal the seams. Slice the roll into inch sections using floss. Scoot the floss underneath the roll to where you want to cut, bringing the ends up and then across. Pull the ends until the floss cuts through. 

Covered with the filling mix.

5. Arranged the pieces in a prepared pan. Preheat the oven to 375F. Let the rolls double in size (about 30 minutes). Bake the rolls 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. While rolls are baking, make icing by combining chai concentrate and powder sugar. When rolls are down baking let cool for 10 minutes, then spread with icing. Enjoy!  

Since I have the extra baking pan, I freeze mine in the pan.

If you want to store the rolls for a rainy day, cut 11 pieces of wax paper to the size of the roll. Cut a piece of plastic wrap to its 14 inches long. Oil one side of a piece of the wax paper and put in oil side down on top of a roll; repeat. Oil the other side of the wax paper, and then stack the rolls together, so each piece is separated by an oiled piece of paper. Spray a line of oil on the long side of the plastic wrap, then place the line of rolls on the oiled plastic wrap. Spray the uncovered side of the rolls with oil. Then roll the log of pieces so they are completely sealed by the plastic wrap. Place the cinnamon roll log in the freezer. When the rainy day comes, unwrap the rolls and place in a prepared baking pan. Cover, let defrost for a half hour to hour and then bake uncovered using the directions above.  


 I hope you enjoy them!