From Greg Atkinson

IslandWood is an environmental learning center near my home on Bainbridge Island. When I was planning the menus for the place, where school-age children would spend four days and nights away from home, living in lodges in the woods while they studied environmental sciences, I happened to be reading Ruth Reichl’s 1998 culinary memoir, Tender at the Bone. In the book, she describes a summer spent as a camp counselor in France. “When we woke up in the morning, the smell of baking bread was wafting through the trees.” In a flash, I knew that on the first morning of their day at IslandWood, I wanted the kids to smell fresh-baked cinnamon rolls.

Makes 2 dozen cinnamon rolls

For the Dough
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
5 cups unbleached organic white flour
1 1/4 cups organic milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted organic butter
2 organic free-range eggs
2 tablespoons kosher salt, or 1 tablespoon table salt

For the Filling
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted organic butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups organic brown sugar
1/4 cup unbleached organic white flour
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the Topping
2 cups organic powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a large mixing bowl, stir together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Allow the mixture to stand until the yeast is softened, about 5 minutes, then stir until the yeast is completely dissolved. Whisk in 1 cup of the flour and let the yeast mixture stand, undisturbed, while you prepare the milk mixture.

2. Warm the milk in a saucepan until it is steaming hot but not boiling. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter, eggs, and salt. The milk mixture should be warm to the touch, about the temperature of a baby’s bottle. Whisk in 1 cup of the flour, then stir the warm mixture into the yeast mixture.

3. Mix in 2 cups of the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, to make a very soft dough. Use the dough hook on the mixer, or turn the dough out onto a well-floured countertop and knead the last cup of flour into the dough, pressing and folding it until it is very smooth and springy, and sprinkling it with additional flour if needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter.

4. Clean out the bowl in which the dough was mixed, and rub the inside of the bowl with canola oil. Put the kneaded dough in the bowl and turn it over once so that the whole ball of dough is lightly coated with the oil. Cover the bowl with a damp, lint-free kitchen towel or with a piece of plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size, about an hour. While the dough is rising, combine the ingredients for the filling in a medium bowl, to make a smooth paste.

5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the risen dough into a large rectangle measuring 12 by 24 inches. Cut this rectangle in half to make two 12-inch squares. Spread the filling over each square, leaving a strip about 1 inch wide along one side uncovered. Roll the dough up to make a 12-inch log, finishing at the uncovered edge so the edge will seal and the filling will not leak out. The logs can be covered and refrigerated at this point and held overnight to be baked in the morning, or they can be cut into rolls and baked at once.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with silicone pan liners or baker’s parchment. If the dough was refrigerated, allow the logs to warm up and soften at room temperature for about 45 minutes before slicing and baking. Cut each log into 12 slices and put them onto the baking sheets. Let the rolls rise at room temperature for 20 minutes, then bake until they are well browned and the filling is bubbling up in the middle, about 20 minutes.

7. In a medium bowl, mix the topping ingredients together. Frost the cinnamon rolls while they are hot, and serve them warm.
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See also Jeff’s Organic Apricot Preserves Recipe
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Greg Atkinson is author of West Coast Cooking and lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Image Credit: © Pat Shrout | Dreamstime.com
OrganicToBe.org | OrganicToGo.com
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