When I was in high school one of my best friends, Kristina, was from Finland; she always made the most amazing cinnamon rolls called “Pulla,” and we all were crazy about them. Now, years later, my daughter and her friends in boarding school love these cinnamon rolls so much and regularly put in “requests” for a fresh delivery of cinnamon rolls to campus...
The tradition lives on, but it isn’t just high school girls who love these rolls; everybody does!
There is no icing on them, which makes them easy to eat anywhere and they are great for breakfast, but also as an afternoon snack, or after school before heading on to activities. They are very easy to make.
Dough:
1 cup cold milk
3 tbsp. melted butter, cooled to room temperature
3 tsp. yeast
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups of flour
1/8 tsp. salt
Optional: 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup raisins or
1/2 cup pecan nuts and 1/2 dried cranberries
Or anything else you might like - you can be creative
Filling:
Melted butter
Cinnamon sugar (I make my own and mix about 1 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup cinnamon)
Method:
In a food processor, bread machine, stand mixer or by hand, add all the ingredients in the recipe order above, including the optional nuts/berries if desired. Mix until cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains. Knead well untill dough is smooth and elastic.
Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let stand at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, until size is doubled.
Grease a 10” springform
Roll dough out gently into a long rectangle (18 x 5.5”). Don’t press too hard.
Brush melted butter onto dough and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.
Roll dough rectangle tightly, into a long roll.
Cut off 2” pieces and place them into springform, starting in the middle and working your way out to the sides.
Brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar.
Leave to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown and inside temperature is 200°F or a toothpick comes out clean.
Hold your family back till they cool a little because the smell alone is mouthwatering!
They never last very long in our house but you can also freeze them and just pop in the microwave to defrost or warm them up.
