Thursday, December 24, 2009

Cherry Almond Rolls Recipe and Merry Christmas!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!  The boys are anxious as can be, especially after waking up to lots of presents that Kevin and I wrapped last night.  They have been asking all day when they get to open one, because we always open one on Christmas Eve.  Eve, guys, means night, like after all the gingerbread house making festivities! ;)  We open the gift from the names we draw out of a bowl.  I’ve never understood, we open the gift right before bed, then tell them they can’t play with whatever it is, it’s time for bed so Santa can come!   Nope, no new pj’s here.  Anyway, Cherry Almond Rolls recipe and photo, coming up!

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This morning I woke up and decided to make cinnamon rolls (a simple, frequent task for me when I use my 30 Minute Rolls Recipe) for breakfast.  But then I also got the idea to try some rolls I’d seen almost a year ago on a delicious blog, Bunny's Warm Oven.  Bunny and Carol’s recipe looks and sounds divine.  They make a potato dough for the rolls, they make a really yummy cherry filling and a heavenly cream cheese frosting.  You’d think I’d have learned my lesson about how good a homemade cherry filling is when I made Anna's Thanksgiving Cherry-Berry Pie this year, but for these rolls, I just opened a can of cherry pie filling that was in the pantry.  Please check out Bunny and Carol’s recipe for the “real” Cherry Rolls.  Here is my more simple, but still delicious version of Cherry Almond Rolls!

30 Minute Rolls for Cherry Almond Rolls or Cinnamon Rolls, by Katrina Smith

Mix together and let rise 15 minutes:

1  3/4 cups warm water

3 tablespoons active dry yeast (one packet of yeast would work fine, which is 2  1/4 teaspoons)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 tablespoons sugar

The yeast mixture should get foamy during the 15 minutes.  Stir then add:

1/2 tablespoon salt

1  1/2 large eggs, beaten (2 tablespoons of a beaten egg is about half an egg)

5-6 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup softened butter (for spreading on dough rolled for cherry or cinnamon rolls)

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Cherry Filling:

1/2 to 3/4 of a can of cherry pie filling

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I didn’t add this, but wish I would have!!!)

Mix well adding a cup or two of flour at a time, knead until no longer too sticky, then separate dough into two halves and roll out dough into rectangles about 1/4 inch thick.  Spread 1/2 cup softened butter over top. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil (or don’t) and spray with cooking spray.  Set aside.  Pulse the cherry filling in the bowl of a food processor a few times, then add the extract and pulse to combine.  Spread the cherry mixture over the buttered dough.  Carefully roll the dough using the long side of the rectangle.  It gets a little messy, but it’s worth it.  If it seems like there is too much cherry filling, spoon a little off, but save it.  Cut the rolls into a good one inch size (use a piece of thread for the best cutting—wrap the thread around the end of the dough, bring the two ends together and pull them across one another—slices perfect every time, where knives tend to smash the roll.)  Lay the rolls in the pan.  At this point you can let the rolls rise anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, but you don't have to--they don't really need to rise, but I do usually let them rise 15 minutes or so.  Bake for 12-15 minutes (check after 10 according to your own oven).

After rolls are removed from oven, cool in pan on cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Spread the remaining cherry filling you probably scraped off the dough over the baked rolls.  Make the frosting with this delicious cream cheese frosting recipe that I did get from Bunny's Warm Oven!  I love the simplicity of this recipe and I’ll always remember it, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or you could try almond extract)

Beat in an electric mixer all ingredients 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy!  (I doubled this frosting as I had a pan of cherry almond rolls and a pan of cinnamon rolls!)  The roll recipe above will make that many, about 2 dozen.

Put the frosting in a plastic zip top bag and snip a corner off one end.  Drizzle frosting over rolls.  Sprinkle toasted almonds over the top.

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And do you think the boys will even try the cherry rolls?  Of course not!  They all had cinnamon rolls.  I keep saying, someday, someday they’ll appreciate all my baking!  Kevin and I enjoyed some cherry rolls and guess what’s for breakfast tomorrow?  We’re getting iced, sleeted, suppose to turn to 4-8 inches of snowed in today!  It’s windy, cold and rather yucky out there.  It would be really fun for some nice snow to fall overnight, you know, so Santa’s sleigh can land smoothly on the roof.  Right now there’s about 1/2 inch of sleety, icy rainy, hailish stuff on the ground.  Merry Christmas All!

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I tried to go outside and take some pictures with the natural light.  For one thing, there is no real natural light today and second, it’s stinkin’ cold and windy out there!

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Yep, that’s an ornament and yep, it’s a banana!  Thanks, Monica (aka, Monkey!)

17 comments:

Lisa Ernst said...

I love the "twist" on the classic cinnamon roll recipe. I'm ready for my piece just about now. ;) Have a great Christmas!

Mona said...

hahaha it is such a bummer when there is not natural light! I am sure one days your boys will appreciate your baking! Those rolls look soooo good. Have a super merry christmas!

Donna-FFW said...

My goodness these cherry almond rolls look fantastic! I must try them. Hope you had a most fantastic holiday Katrina!

Deborah said...

I need to try this. I don't make cinnamon rolls very often because it takes so long! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Anonymous said...

I feel for you with the lack of natural light. It sure does make inside food photography more challenging! We're having one gray dark day after another.

Thanks for sharing this variation. No doubt I would love the cherry almond combo!!!!! Of course you can't go wrong with cinnamon rolls either.

Merry Christmas!

Megan said...

Both rolls look great but the cherry looks so festive. Hmmm, 30 minutes ya say...
Hope your Christmas was merry and happy New Year!

Lisa said...

Those look yummy! I am in love with those cinnamon rolls with cherries in the middle that you get from the snack cake aisle, but they could not be more horrible for you. I am definitely making these!

I am snowed in also. I'm stuck in Kansas City right now, so I'm not far from you. We've had about 8 or 9 inches. We had a white Christmas for sure!

Megan said...

30 minute dough? You better believe I'm off to check that out. My kids would love it!

mike said...

These look 100% better than the cinnamon rolls I attempted a few days ago - and much easier too! Love the icing - how festive - I'm sure they were perfect for your holiday! Happy New Year!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Hope you're enjoying the holidays Katrina!!! It must be a party with your 4 boys there! Love the cherry rolls, so "christmasy"!!!

Julius said...

Looks fantastic.
Have a wonderful new year ahead!

Julius
from Occasional Baker

Paula said...

Oh yes! Your boys will appreciate your cooking--eventually. We always use to say, " You'll like it when you grow up." And sure enough, we were right in most cases.

These rolls look awesome. Know what you mean about the light.

Jaime said...

mmmm love the cherry version!

Michelle said...

OH my...what a luscious looking dessert! Definitely on my ToDo List!

Stumbled!

Meagan said...

Okay so at some point I really need a cinnamon roll lesson from you. Mine never turn out and possibly I need to try this recipe but I really LOVE (traditional) cinnamon rolls and never eat them because mine are not yummy enough to go through all the effort. HELP!

Kayte said...

Now we are talking on this Cherry Almond Roll Recipe! YUM.

The Kitchen Wife said...

Mmmmm....This looks so yummy!