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Who has a nice hot cup of coffee, perhaps lovely spot of tea (wait.. why do they call it a ‘spot of tea’???) or just a big ol’ glass of frothy milk?
There are days when I just don’t feel like making cinnamon rolls. They aren’t terribly hard; actually pretty easy but even yours truly needs a break. Well this past weekend Mr. Fantabulous was hinting around for some cinnamon rolls. Now before I go on, he has a constant complaint about them. “They’re too big, you make too many and I’m forced to eat them all myself…” Yeah, most people should have such problems, huh? LOL Well okay I can do something about the size and quantity but when I initially started making them for him I would make at least a dozen at a time and each one was the size of a saucer (think like 4-5″ round by 3″ high). Yeah… that big! But hey in my defense growing up we had to cook for a ton and we had to cook big. My brothers were athletes and big ol’ boys with very hearty appetites. I learned to cook en masse so when Mr. Fantabulous and I got married it took me quite some time to learn how to tame it down considerably. So now I make him 6 at a time and yes they are still big but that’s just how I roll yo… LOL
So when he asked me to make these I made the ‘ugh’ face to which he responded with the pouty “That’s okay, <insert ridiculously long sigh> you don’t have to…” Since I knew we were getting company for the weekend and I know how he really does not like to share his cinnamon rolls, I went for more of a coffee cake type of schtick. All the yummy goodness of a cinnamon roll but in a coffeecake form that I knew he would share… or so I thought!
As this was baking the smell of brown sugar and cinnamon filled my kitchen and hallways. The aroma was intoxicating. Actually it woke up Sleeping Beauty with the biggest of grins and the “Oh honey, you do love me! You’re making cinnamon rolls!” Um… apparently my love is measured in cinnamon rolls now?? LOL Well when I told him no and had him peak at what I was making, the pout returned, the look of HOW DARE YOU!? overtook his beautiful face and once again he sulked. LOL Yeah.. he’s that spoiled! I have no one to blame… well not true, I do blame Mama Fantabulous *love you Mama!* but you spoiled him first… I just picked up where you left off *wink*. As I took this out of the oven and helped ‘whoff’ the aroma down the halls, I could hear pitter patter of feet down the hall and the *sniff sniff sniff* I knew I had him. He made some coffee and asked if he could have a piece. Now normally I would have said no and that it was for company but there was no way I was disappointing him again. So I cut him a piece, drizzled on the cinnamon cream and waited with baited breath. Well apparently I made something magical because all was forgiven, the heaven’s opened up, a light shined down on the cake and angels were singing “Hallelujah!” LOL He LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED it!
Next time you’re craving Cinnamon Rolls but don’t want to deal with the dough, the rolling, the proofing and all that jazz, try this. It’s really, really simple and super yummy!
Now for those that need to watch their sugar intake, I did my best to incorporate a lower sugar method.
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Cream Drizzle
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Ingredients
Cake
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup white sugar or 6 Tbl Splenda Sugar Blend
- 3/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
Cake
- 2 Tbl vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp table salt
Cinnamon Filling
- 1 stick butter, soft but not melted
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed or 1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped *optional
Cinnamon Cream Drizzle
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 Tbl butter, softened
- 2 Tbl cream
- 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
- 1 cup 2 Tbl confectioners’ sugar, sifted – see note on how to make this Sugar Free
- 1/2–1 tsp cinnamon
- Cinnamon chips for garnish
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grease and flour all sides of a 9-inch springform pan (at least 3” high). Do not use a 9” cake pan as it’s too shallow.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and white sugar until pale, light, and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high to high speed.
- Add the yogurt, eggs, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and beat until smooth and incorporated,~3 minutes.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder salt, and beat until just incorporated and batter is smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed.
- Spread batter into prepared pan; set aside. The batter will be thick.
Cinnamon Filling
- In a bowl, add the softened butter and whip it until it’s very smooth. If your butter is softened to begin with you can use a spoon to get it all smooth.
- Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and beat with a spoon or whisk until combined. If you are using pecans, add them now and mix to combine.
- Spread filling over the top of the cake batter in an even, smooth, flat layer going almost to the edge of the pan.
- Now take a table knife and swirl back and forth to marble the filling into the cake batter. The more you swirl, the more your cinnamon filling will be dispersed. Try to get a good swirl going, trying to get to the bottom of the batter (be careful not to scratch your pan though).
- Place the pan on a baking sheet (in case your springform pan doesn’t have a perfect seal) and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until topping has set and a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean. Just keep an eye on the cake so the top of it that has of the brown sugar filling exposed that it doesn’t burn.
- Allow the cake to cool in pan and rest on baking sheet for at least 30 minutes before removing sides from the pan. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze.
Cinnamon Cream Drizzle
- In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and butter beating with a whisk until light and fluffy.
- Add in the cream, vanilla bean pulp and whisk until combined and smooth.
- Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar, whisking to incorporate and until smooth. If it’s too thick, add a tad more cream. If it’s too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar.
- Add in the cinnamon starting with 1/2 tsp and adding the rest per your tastes.
- If serving immediately, slice the cake into pieces and drizzle with glaze.
- Garnish with cinnamon chips.
- Store the leftover glaze in the fridge and the cake in an airtight container.
Notes
How to make Sugar Free Confectioner’s Sugar:
Take 2 cups Splenda Granulated Sugar with 4 Tbl of cornstarch and put both ingredients in a blender container, cover and blend until a very fine powder forms.
These sound so good and lower sugar. Good for you! Thanks.
Hi Contessa 🙂
Well you have the option of making it regular or diabetic friendly. I have a few family members as well as TKW family members that battle diabetes so when I create desserts I need to ensure that there is a way I can make it for them either sugar free or low in sugar.
My next task is to work on making them gluten free too.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
★★★★★