Guilt-free Tangzhong Choco-Cinnamon buns (with vegan option)

I got chased by a cat today…a cat… a freakin’ cat!

It started with a plan to run. (Okay, that’s an overstatement– I really mean ‘jog’).

I was jogging on this pavement and a cat literally jumped out of nowhere right at me!

My immediate reaction was to give it a cold hard glare hey cat you’ll have caused me some expensive medical bills if not for my sudden possession of quick reflexes.

But that’s not the point.

The point is. It ran after me.

 My planned jog evolved into a frantic run.

An extremely frantic, angry run.

But of course. It suddenly occurred to me that its a cat and I’m human. It should be scared of me, not I scared of it.

I’m not too proud of what I did next. It was dumb. I hope nobody saw it.

I did a quick turn towards the stupid cat (sorry cat lovers… to clarify, its just this particular cat that I’ll call ‘stupid’) and shrieked/yelled/screamed “BOO!” and stuck out my tongue at it.

I’m not proud of what I did.

At all.

Nonetheless, the childish scare tactic did work. The cat scrambled away immediately, meowing angrily (my own interpretation, not too sure though).

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Okay. You (probably) weren’t looking for some dumb cat story when you started reading this post. You were (most probably) looking for my SUPER HEALTHY cinnamon roll recipe. No, that’s no longer an oxymoron. Its a reality.

Its fat-free (as always), cinnamony (self-created word which ought to be a real word), chocolaty, SUPER SOFT (for 2 days REALLY) without preservatives, wholewheat, and best of all DELICIOUS. Yums.

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Guilt-free Cinnamon Rolls

No. of servings: 10

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Ingredients

Non-Vegan

Bread dough

• 140g bread flour
• 70g whole wheat flour
• 56g cake/top flour
• 20g milk powder (I used my mum’s Anlene milk powder. Ssshhhh…)
• 50g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7g instant yeast
• 30g egg, lightly beaten
• 85g water
• 84g tang zhong

Filling (mix evenly)

• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp applesauce
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

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Vegan

Bread dough

• 140g bread flour
• 70g whole wheat flour
• 56g cake/top flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7g instant yeast
• 2 tbsp oil/ vegan butter like Earth Balance
• 85g non-dairy milk
• 84g tang zhong

Filling (mix evenly)

• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp nut butter/tahini
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

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Add-ins: (optional)

• Peanut butter chips,
• white chocolate chips,
• raisins, 
• cookie dough,
• macadamia nuts,
• sliced almonds,
• crumbled oreos/cookies,
• etc.

Directions

For tangzhong preparation method, click here.

Add all ingredients for dough  into the mixer bowl of a stand mixer.

Mix at speed 1 for 20 minutes until smooth dough that passes windowpane test is formed.

Shape the dough into a smooth round and place in a mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rise till double in volume for about 50mins.

Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as you knead.Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 30cm by 25cm, 1 cm thick.

Spread surface with filling over the dough surface. Roll over the surface with a rolling pin, this is to make sure the fillings will stick onto the dough.

Roll up like a swiss roll. With a sharp knife or dental floss (unused of course!), slice the ‘swiss roll’ into the number of pieces you want.

Place rolls on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. I used a non-stick cake mould. No need for parchment paper!  Loosely cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let dough proof for 50mins.

Bake at preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack

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This post is going to YEASTSPOTTING!!!

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