Apple Cider Cinnamon Rolls

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 81-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

The recipe this week: ham and bean soup. Standing at the stove, Marlene's wooden spoon in my hand (the cracked one, the one that will outlast us all), the recipe either from the card box or from my own expanding collection, both equally real, both equally mine. The kitchen holds all of it — the old recipes and the new ones, the teacher's food and the student's food, the grief and the joy and the cinnamon. All of it. Always.

January. The real winter. Dark and cold, the wind off the prairie personal in its grudge. We endure with soup and blankets and the belief that spring comes eventually. I made bread — sourdough from the starter named Marlene, the bread rising in a warm kitchen while Iowa does its worst outside.

That same afternoon — the bread rising, the soup on the stove, the wind doing what Iowa wind does in January — I pulled these cinnamon rolls together almost without thinking. The cinnamon was already out. The kitchen was already warm. Marlene made cinnamon rolls every fall when the cider came in, and I don’t think it’s an accident that I reached for this recipe on a day when I needed to feel that kitchen around me again.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes (includes rising) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

Dough
1 cup apple cider, warmed to 110°F
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one standard packet)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
Filling
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Apple Cider Glaze
1/2 cup apple cider
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Proof the yeast. Combine warm apple cider, yeast, and 1 teaspoon of the granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit 5–10 minutes until foamy. If it doesn’t foam, start over with fresh yeast.
Make the dough. Add the remaining sugar, melted butter, eggs, salt, and vanilla to the yeast mixture. Using the dough hook, mix on low. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing until a soft, slightly tacky dough forms. Increase to medium speed and knead 6–8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
First rise. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel, and let rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
Prepare the filling. While the dough rises, mix together the softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in a small bowl until a spreadable paste forms. Set aside.
Roll and fill. Punch down the risen dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a rectangle approximately 16 by 12 inches. Spread the cinnamon filling evenly across the surface, leaving a 1/2-inch border at one of the long edges.
Shape the rolls. Starting from the long edge closest to you, roll the dough tightly into a log. Pinch the seam to seal. Using a sharp knife or unflavored dental floss, cut into 12 equal rolls.
Second rise. Arrange rolls cut-side up in a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Cover and let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour, until puffed and filling the pan.
Bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls 22–26 minutes, until golden brown on top and a thermometer inserted in the center reads 190°F. Do not overbake — they continue cooking as they cool.
Make the glaze. While the rolls bake, pour the apple cider into a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat until reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Whisk in the melted butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and salt until smooth. The glaze should be thick but pourable.
Glaze and serve. Let rolls cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then pour the cider glaze generously over the top. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple Cider Cinnamon Rolls — The Warm Kitchen While Iowa Does Its Worst