Sweet rolls tend to take patience and a little bit of effort to make; however, they are worth every second. We have a small local shop that makes amazing cinnamon rolls that my husband and I both drool over. Sometimes it’s nice to change up flavor profiles and steer away from tradition. When my sister sent me this recipe I knew I had to share. These sweet rolls are so unlike any cinnamon roll you have ever eaten.
These sweet rolls start off as an easy quick rise dough recipe. Normally, all bread has four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. Because we want the rolls to be creamy and sweet we change this up a bit by replacing the water with milk and adding sugar, egg, and butter. This makes the rolls in essence a quick bread and yeast bread combination. Adding in the rise time, the sweet rolls end up fluffy and creamy.
Fresh farmer cheese gives the filling a creamy, decadent flavor with a subtle hint of tang. Not everyone has access to fresh farmer cheese, though. Store bought ricotta or cream cheese make fabulous substitutes. Keep in mind, when using cream cheese the filling will have different flavor and texture; it’s still delicious, though!
Drizzling warm heavy whipping cream helps the sweet rolls to retain their moisture while baking. By helping lock in the moisture these remain fluffy and gooey – something I associate with good gourmet style sweet rolls. After baking, the white chocolate ganache rounds out the amazing flavor. Beware, these are addicting! You might be tempted to enjoy more than one.
Ingredients:
Dough:
- 3/4 cup warm whole milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons of instant rise yeast
- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 egg – room temperature
- 1/4 cup of salted butter – melted
- 3 cups of bread flour
- 1 cup of warm heavy whipping cream
Filling:
- 16 ounces of fresh farmer cheese
- 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
- 1 cup white baking chips
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
Icing:
- 1 1/4 cup of white baking chips
- 3/4 cup of boiling hot heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons of butter – melted
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- Extra macadamia nuts for finishing
Method:
- Warm milk to about 110°F (slightly warm to touch) and add to stand mixer with a dough hook and add yeast.
- Allow yeast to proof until bubbling (about 10 minutes).
- Add egg, sugar and butter to mixer and stir into yeast mixture until well incorporated.
- Slowly add flour until completely mixed in.
- Continue to stir mixture for 8 minutes to allow gluten structures to form while kneading.
- Transfer dough ball to a well oiled bowl and cover with a warm kitchen towel.
- Allow dough to rise for about an hour – or until the dough has doubled in size.
- While dough is rising you will need to start the ganache to allow it time to cool and set up. In a medium sized mixing bowl pour hot heavy cream over white chocolate chips and allow to sit for one minute.
- Mix together cream and white chocolate mixture with butter and cinnamon until smooth.
- Cover ganache and place in refrigerator to cool.
- Transfer dough to a well floured surface and roll out into a 9” x 14” rectangle.
- Mix together farmer cheese, macadamia nuts, brown sugar, and egg yolk until well mixed together.
- Evenly spread mixture over dough making sure to not get too close to the edges.
- Evenly sprinkle white chocolate chips over top of filling mixture and then evenly sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Tightly roll dough on the long edge and place the seam on the bottom.
- Evenly cut into 12 sections and place in a parchment paper lined 9” x 13” baking pan.
- Cover with well oiled plastic wrap and a warm towel and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Remove plastic wrap and towel and drizzle dough with warm heavy whipping cream.
- Bake sweet rolls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- while sweet rolls are cooling, pull ganache out of the refrigerator and whip for one minute until fluffy.
- Frost cinnamon rolls and sprinkle with extra macadamia nuts.
- Store extras in refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days.