Absolutely Dreamy Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

I have had so many people literally begging for the recipe of the cinnamon rolls I pictured in my Christmas Activities Post that I promised I’d share it.

Here it is!

A picture is worth a thousand words. 

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Ingredients

Dough:

• 2 cups warm water
• 1½ tsp salt
• 4 tsp oil
• 4 tsp honey or agave
• 8 tsp applesauce
• 1 TBSP yeast
• optional: one 500 mg vitamin C chewable tablet, ground up (it helps the texture of the bread)
• optional: 2 TBSP ground flax
• About 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (more or less depending on humidity outside, etc)

Filling:

• 1/2 sweetener of choice (kind of optional depending on your tastes), like sucanat, cane sugar, sugar, maple flakes; splenda will work, too.
• 2 large apples (shredded right before adding)
• 1/2 cup raisins

Also need: two 9″x13″ baking pans, sprayed; and some dental floss (1 1/2-2 feet approximately)

Recipe for glaze/icing follows directions…

Directions:

Combine the water, salt, oil, honey or agave, applesauce, yeast, vitamin C, and flax in either a Kitchen Aid or a Bosch mixer (or any other mixer that can handle bread dough).

Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time…

Until it is all incorporated — the dough should be a little sticky. Then knead for 9 mins.

Once the dough is done with its “massage,” take the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin (mine measured 12″ x 24″, probably about 1/4″ thick). (Your rolling surface and rolling pin need to be either dusted with flour or sprayed with cooking spray)

Sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon.

Sprinkle on the shredded apples and raisins.

Roll ’em up and grab some dental floss.

To keep the rolls evenly shaped, take your floss, snug your floss under the roll, lift up and pull through. Repeat.

Place them in a sprayed baking pan. Once they are all snuggled, set your oven to its lowest setting, turn it off, and place the rolls into the oven to rise until about double in size (about 30 mins).

Then bake ’em for 15 mins at 375 degrees F.

You can add frosting, but it tastes great without it. 😀

You can add one of the following if you’d like:

• Cinnamon roll glaze (an old Bosch recipe)
  • ¼ cup softened Earth Balance, butter, or coconut oil
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 TBSP water
• Cinnamon roll icing (adapted from healthygreenkitchen.com)***
  • 1 cup granular sweetener
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup milk of choice
• Homemade/store-bought  frosting of choice***

Plain, or with icing? Glazed, or with frosting?  Anyway you choose — and you’re in heaven. 🙂

[If using the glaze/icing, combine the ingredients in a bowl and drizzle on the rolls. Just make sure you don’t pour on too much (don’t ask how I found that out 😉 ). Less is more; am I right?]

Last and final steps: (drum roll please?!)

Plate it.

Admire it.

DEVOUR it.