I love making breakfast Sunday morning at home. Such a blissful time of joy and relaxation. Nothing to worry about and places to hurry to be. Just home, and time for rest and family. A moment to be grateful for all things small and big, but most of all time to love and give. My way of showing tenderness and care this morning is by surprising my loved ones with these incredible Cinnamon Rolls. There is something so magical and almost Christmas like with cinnamon, vanilla and orange scents cascading early morning through the kitchen. A breakfast wrapped as gift, and why ever not?

I have been longing to try this recipe since a long, long time. Cinnamon Rolls have so many varieties in Western Europe and Northern America. In Belgium, the bakeries are offering a more sweeter, French version style of large, flat rolls, filled with raisins and vanilla pudding, glazed with sugary icing on top. The original recipe, however, comes from the Nordic countries. Sweden is even famous for having a Cinnamon Roll national holiday day. Who could imagine? I guess, as any classic recipe, all nations and cooks, place a local touch of taste and flair, making something simple, special and distinctly their own. This Cinnamon Roll recipe, for example, exists in blending cinnamon with four spices, filled with raisins or caramelised apples, glazed with syrup, icing or even cream cheese.

All versions sound delicious, but I seem to prefer this lower calorie, simple one. A classic ‘Vienna Bread’ dough, made of flour, sugar, milk and butter. I love how easy it is to knead and roll the dough, almost like a plasticine. Once rolled, then the moment comes to decide how to make the filling. Only cinnamon scent or adding something more exotic like four spice or star-anise? I have opted for only cinnamon, cane sugar and vanilla. Once rolled and baked, the question comes again for the toping. Syrup, cream cheese or simple icing? To give the Cinnamon Rolls a more luxurious touch, I have made the icing with fresh orange juice instead of milk or water. The orange icing has such a subtle, lovely scent that goes well with the cinnamon.

My Cinnamon Rolls, do not stay hidden for long, and all of a sudden I have helping hands in the kitchen, offering to roll the dough, to glaze the rolls, but most of all to taste it all. I serve a generous helping to every one, gloriously drizzled with extra orange icing, until we are laughing and fighting for the last remaining roll. A wonderful family recipe to try soon again.

Ingredients

For the Cinnamon Dough

• 300ml milk
• 80g butter
• 525g flour
• 9g active dry yeast
• 80g fine sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2tsp salt

For the Sugar Cinnamon Filling

• 50g butter, melted
• 75g cane sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 package vanilla sugar Dr. Oetker (8g)

For the Orange Icing

• 150g icing sugar
• 3 tbs juice from one orange

Method

1. Mix flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Place the dry east at one side of the bowl and the salt at the other, so they do not touch each other.
2. Heat the milk and melt the butter in the milk – the milk should be warm, but not boiling!
3. Pour butter-milk to the dry ingredients and knead for 1 minute. Then knead in the egg for some minutes.
4. Place the dough on a floured flat surface and knead it until it becomes smooth and round, not sticky. If needed, add more flour.
5. Grease another mixing bowl and leave the dough there for 1 hour at a warm place covered with a tea towel.
6. Place baking paper at the bottom of a large oven proof pan. Blend cane sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
7. After 1 hour roll out the dough on a flat floured surface to a large rectangle. Spread first the melted butter on the dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar on top. Now roll from the longer side. Trim the edges and cut the big roll into 11-12 pieces.
8. Arrange the cinnamon rolls in the oven pan with some distance to each. Cover the cinnamon rolls again with a tea towel and leave on a warm place for another 30 minutes, before you bake them for 25 minutes in a preheated oven by 180°C top/bottom heat.
9. Let the cinnamon rolls cool down for a moment on a cooling rack and prepare the icing by mixing icing sugar and freshly squeezed orange juice. Pour icing over the cinnamon rolls and eat them, when they are still lukewarm.