In the Year of Fearless Baking: Episode #12: Cinnamon Rolls

And, just like that, after all of those wild experiences with lamination and choux, I was back in the strange land of enriched dough. Joe Pastry, who has become one of my favorite resources for all things baking-related, suggested that brioche dough is best for cinnamon rolls. So, it seemed like a good opportunity to revisit the technique with a different recipe.

Friends, this brioche dough is pretty amazing. It’s a three day excursion down a road paved with an outrageous quantity of butter. And, of course, when Joe Pastry suggested, hey, why not use brown butter? I was like, no freaking way.

Um, yeah. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it before, but I think brown butter is one of the best things in the world. Basically, you take butter (which is already amazing), and turn it into something that smells like toasted hazelnuts. But it still does the magical things that butter does. Incredible.

And there you have it, brown butter brioche dough. It was so sexy and smooth.

After an overnight in the fridge, it got rolled out, and rolled up with some cinnamon and sugar.

And suddenly there were cinnamon rolls in the oven.

And then, after half an hour (which felt like an eternity), they were out. Pretty damn delicious, and made the kitchen smell like magic.