I think one of my absolute most favorite things is Gingerbread. Gingerbread cake. Gingerbread loaf. Gingerbread Cookies. Gingerbread Brownies . . . and NOW these scrumptious Gingerbread Rolls! Yes, Gingerbread rolls!
I have taken the concept of my mom's quick cinnamon rolls . . . and switched it out to make Gingerbread Rolls. I did this by incorporating gingerbread flavours into the biscuit/scone base . . . the buttery/sugary filling . . . and into that sweet sticky glaze.
Just look at that . . . one of the main ingredients of a good gingerbread is molasses or dark treacle. I used a tablespoon of that mixed into the milk and egg for the dough . . . along with a combination of traditional gingerbread spices. That way the biscuit scone base not only smells heavenly when it's baking . . . but it gives you a bit of a gingerbread kick when you bite into them.
Then there is the filling with even more gingerbread flavoured goodness . . . butter . . . two kinds of brown sugar, light and dark, for more of that treacle like flavor and no less than four of the warm baking spices, ginger being the main one. Oh, and a bit of lemon zest because well . . . ginger and lemon are a marriage made in heaven.
You only need to eat a slice of my World's Best Gingerbread Cake with Lemon sauce to know how very true that is! But I digress . . .
They bake up nice and fluffy . . . crisp on the outside, sweet spicy filling . . . but the gingerbread goodness doesn't stop there. The final touch of gingerbread deliciousness is the crowning glory of it's full on gingerbread flavoured glaze that is drizzled over the warm buns. Can you spell SPECTACULAR???
*Gingerbread Rolls*Makes 12Printable Recipe
I love the flavours of Gingerbread and so I thought I would convert my favorite cinnamon roll into a gingerbread roll. Not a yeast roll, but more like a quick bread, or rolled scone. These are wow!
For the dough:280g of plain flour (2 cups)4 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
75g of butter, cut into bits (1/3 cup)1 large free range egg160ml of milk (2/3 cup)1 TBS dark treacle or molassesTo fill:125g of butter softened100g soft dark brown sugar (1/2 cup)100 soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup)1 heaped tsp of ground ginger1/2 tsp ground cinnamon1/4 tsp ground nutmeg1/4 tsp ground cardamomthe finely grated zest of one lemonTo glaze:130g of confectioners sugar, sifted1 tsp molasses or treaclefew drops of cinnamon extractfew drops ginger extractlemon juice to thin
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Butter the paper. Set aside.
Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Drop in the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Whisk together the egg, milk and molasses. Add this a bit at a time to the flour mixture, stirring it in with a fork, until you have a soft dough. Knead a few times. Turn out onto a lightly floured board. Pat out to an 8 inch by 12 inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter over all. Mix together both sugars, the lemon zest, the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Sprinkle this evenly over the butter. Roll the dough up tightly from the long side. Press the ends together to seal. Cut into 12 one inch slices. Place them an inch or two apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and well puffed up. Remove from the oven. Immediately scoop off onto a wire rack. Whisk all of the glaze ingredients together until you have a thickish drizzle and only adding enough lemon juice to give you the right consistency. Drizzle this over the rolls. These are best eaten on the day.
