Recipe: Maple-Glazed Cinnamon Rolls (dough is refrigerated overnight)

MAPLE-GLAZED CINNAMON ROLLS

"My grandmother Hazel was a fine farm-trained baker, always at her best with morning sweets and treats. Her standard breakfast menu (originally designed to fortify field hands against a ten- or twelve-hour day) typically included eggs, bacon, and/or sausage, potatoes, and toasted homemade bread, along with peach butter, applesauce, and stewed rhubarb-options enough for even the hungriest early riser. Still, no breakfast was complete without some kind of sweet pastry, cinnamon rolls as likely as not, warm and puffy from the oven. I remember them as enormous (I was smaller then), and so this recipe makes BIG rolls, substantial enough that modern urban appetites might consider them breakfast on their own."

FOR THE ROLLS:
1 1/2 cups milk
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus room-temperature butter for the bowl and the baking dish
2 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup sugar, divided use
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 eggs, beaten
About 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided use
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

FOR THE MAPLE GLAZE:
6 tablespoons genuine maple syrup
2 tablespoons heavy (whipping) cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar, in a sieve

FOR SPRINKLING ON TOP:
2 to 3 tablespoons dried cranberries, pitted dried cherries, or dark raisins
2 to 3 tablespoons sliced unblanched almonds

THE NIGHT BEFORE:
For the rolls, in a saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, 6 tablespoons of the butter, the 2 tablespoons sugar, and the salt. Heat, stirring once or twice, until the milk is hot and the butter is just melted. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl.

When the temperature of the milk has fallen to between 105 and 1 15 degrees F, sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Stir to dissolve and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beaten eggs. Stir in about 4 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft, sticky dough.

Flour a work surface. Turn out the dough and knead, adding additional flour as needed, until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Butter a large bowl. Put the dough in the bowl, turn it to coat with the butter, and cover with a clean towel. Let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.

Punch down the dough. Knead it briefly in the bowl, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

IN THE MORNING:
Let the remaining 6 tablespoons butter come to room temperature.

Turn out the chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface, Pat and roll it out into an 11-by-15 inch rectangle about 1/3 inch thick.

In a small bowl, stir together the 1/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

Spread the 6 tablespoons softened butter evenly over the dough to the edges. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the buttered dough. Starting from a long side, roll up the dough into a long cylinder. Cut the cylinder crosswise into 12 equal slices. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange the 12 dough slices cut sides down, in the dish in 3 rows of 4 slices. Cover the dish with a clean towel and let the rolls rise at room temperature until they are doubled, about 2 hours.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Set the dish in the oven and bake the rolls until they are puffed, golden, and cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand in the dish on a rack for 15 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter.

MEANWHILE, TO MAKE THE MAPLE GLAZE:
In the top pan of a double boiler over simmering water, stir together the maple syrup, heavy cream, butter, and vanilla. Gradually sift in the confectioner's sugar, stirring constantly. Remove the glaze from the hot water and let cool slightly.

When the glaze has thickened slightly from cooling, drizzle it evenly over the warm rolls, using it all. Sprinkle the glaze evenly with the cranberries and almonds. Serve warm.

Makes 12 rolls
Source: Good Mornings: Great Breakfasts and Brunches for Starting the Day Right by Michael McLaughlin