Another season, another wreath

Nearly a month and a half later, it seems I've finally come across something I've loved too much to not post on the blog. There have been plenty of times I've thought to share something, but life has gotten in the way... Work to be done. Doctor's appointments galore. A messy house that I swear produces more dust than any other house on the planet. Holidays. Growing a human in my belly. You know, those kinds of things.

Anyway, I find it all too funny that my last post was about a felt fall wreath. Why? Because though the autumn decor has since been taken down and replaced by Christmas trimmings, there is still a new wreath in my life. And this one you can eat! It's a cinnamon roll wreath, inspired by a photo on Pinterest I repinned months ago.

After visiting the original site (which, humorously, is a forum for people who like to cook while camping), I was inspired by the idea but wasn't sold on two things: the original recipe and the SIZE. It was made to feed about 20 people, and I just wanted to bring some treats to our staff meeting. So I went perusing allrecipes.com to find a recipe I was happier with.

I landed on this one, which did NOT disappoint. Be forewarned, the gooey cinnamon goodness does ooze out of the buns quite a bit (it dripped off my baking sheet and onto the bottom of the oven, which then had to be scrubbed and cleaned). If not for Christmas, I would definitely just make these in a muffin pan in the future, per recipe instructions... but for this special season, I had to go all out. I made a cream cheese frosting to top them, but let everyone frost to their heart's content after the wreath was broken into.

Cinnamon Roll Wreath

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, softened margarine.
4. Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with margarine/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 12 lightly greased muffin cups.  (To make a wreath, score dough log into 12 portions that are still connected, about 3/4 of the way through. Shape log into a circle, connecting the ends, and fanning out the individual buns until you are happy with the shape) Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. If applicable, remove from muffin cups to cool. Serve warm.

NOTE: I wanted these for an early morning meeting, so I made the dough and filling and prepared up until Step 4 the night before. Then, I covered the entire pan with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. The next morning, I took the wreath out 30 minutes before I wanted to bake it so that it could come to room temperature and re-rise. I baked as per instructions. Still came out super fresh, without having to wake up at the crack of dawn.

Original recipe found at: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ninety-minute-cinnamon-rolls/detail.aspx