Orange Sweet Rolls: Pillsbury Style

These are one of my favorite things ever! Easy to make in advance, then pop in the oven for a special brunch. I slightly improved the dough from my cinnamon rolls, and topped with a delicious fresh orange glaze.

THE RECIPE:

The Dough:


½ c tapioca flour
½ c potato starch
¾ c arrowroot powder
¼ cup brown rice flour
1/4 c millet flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp guar gum
2 tsp baking powder            
1 tiny stevia-scoop stevia

3 tbs coconut oil (melted)
2 ½ tbs agave
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs                           --> combine wet ingredients; whisk in egg; add wet to dry


1/4 c almond milk    -->  add milk slowly, until it is dough consistency (a little sticky is ok.)

If dough is too sticky, dust with brown rice flour until it does not stick to your hand/spatula when touched.

--> Tape a sheet of waxed paper down onto a counter/table. Dust with brown rice flour. Place dough in the center, and use a (floured) rolling pin to roll out to ~¼ (or thinner) inch thick rectangle.


Filling:
2 tbs coconut oil (softened)
4 tbs coconut sugar
2 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs agave                        
                   ....or basically any combination of the above ingredients (leaving out the oil works fine too!)

--> Wisk together all ingredients until combined. Use a rubber spatula to spread filling over entire rectangle of dough.

Untape the waxed paper under the sheet of dough. Begin rolling dough “hot-dog style” (AKA, roll the long side, to make a thin, long roll) by lifting the waxed paper and gently coaxing the dough into a tight roll. Since the part of the roll is the tightest, starting it is the trickiest, and after that you can just left the waxed paper and let the log of dough roll on its own.

If making the dough in advance, tape the waxed paper around the log of dough, put plastic wrap around the open ends, and place in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake them, place the roll on a cutting board, and slice into ~1-inch thick rounds. Arrange them evenly spaced in an 8-inch round cake pan. Dough will expand as it cooks, so it's fine if there's extra space in the pan.

Heat oven to 350, and bake for ~30 minutes. Dough will still be soft when it comes out (don't bake until it's hard! 30 minutes max should do it). After removing from the oven, let cool in pan for ~5 minutes (ie, while you make the glaze!).

Glaze:

1 orange
1 tbs agave (preferably "light" agave)
1 tsp ghee, softened
1 tsp chia seeds (to help thicken it)
orange zest (from the rind) to taste (~1/8 tsp)
dash salt (if needed)               ----> puree in blender/food processor (Magic Bullet!)

Let glaze sit for a couple minutes to let the chia seeds work their thickening magic. Then, spread over all rolls in the pan.

Dig in and enjoy the anti-pillsbury deliciousness! (no disrespect to my guy the Doughboy)






 


          <

Chocolate Tahini Truffles

Gorgeous Christmas truffles!

MmmmmMmmmmm.

I've never made truffles before-- not in real (sugar-eating) life, not in acd-life. However, on Christmas day I recieved "On Food and Cooking, the Science and Lore of the Kitchen", by harold McGee, and I read the chocolate section.

I learned that ganache (standard truffle filling) is a suspension of cocoa and fat molecules within a sugar-syrup, created by combining melted chocolate and cream. For a soft ganache, the chocolate-to-cream ratio is about 1:1. For a thicker ganache (as in, truffle filling), the ratio should be closer to 2:1.

I took note of this, and figured I'd give it a shot, despite the fact that I didn't have any suitable cream. So, to sum it all up: I experimented.

I must admit, I was a very bad blogger while making these. I went a bit crazy, starting out with a couple main ingredients, and then quickly throwing in so many things by taste, that I pretty much lost track of all accurate measurements.


I started out with a sweet-potato based filling, deciding that this tuber would add volume, freshness, and subtle sweetness to the inside of the truffles-- and that I would add some cocoa, and adapt the texture to be more creamy and thick.

I began with a traditional ganache for the outer layer (coating). I melted grain-sweetened chocolate chips, and added half their volume of coconut milk... and then some coconut oil to add fat, since I wasn't using cream. And then some agave and xylitol to enhance the "sugar syrup" component.

... and then I ran away with both of them. Pretty much, I started adding tahini to make both components creamier, then needed to add vanilla to neutralize the sesame-taste, and thennn...? It's a mystery.

But here's a secret. Which I discovered, sweet-craving, kitchen-less, stressed, and food-destitute, in my eagle's-nest, secluded, dorm room, thesis-stressing senior year at Princeton University. Tahini whipped with vanilla =  creamy and delicious mousse. Crazy, I know. Especially because it works best with crummy, international-food-store, cheap Lebanese-labeled tahini. Add some cinnamon to the vanilla-only version, or add cocoa powder to make full-on chocolate mousse. Either way, it's incredibly creamy, but light and frothy at the same time. And, I figured, a great cream/volume-booster to my truffle components.

Thus, my chocolate truffles because chocolate-tahini truffles, with the "tahini" taste lost to the vanilla and chocolate and coconut and all other ingredients.

So, take this recipe as "inspiration", and use it as guidelines to make your own unique creations.

THE RECIPE (ish);

The Coating/Ganache:

1/2+ c Sunspire grain-sweetened chocolate chips
1/4- tsp coconut milk
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp tahini
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp xylitol
1+ tsp agave

Melt chocolate over lowest heat possible, then remove from heat and add other ingredients. When it's really hot, it will be a bit too thick to really work with, so try to keep the heat low (or you'll have to wait forever for it to cool).


The Filling:


~3/4 c sweet potato (aka 1/2 large sweet potato), cooked and mashed without skin
1 tbs almond butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs tahini    ---> whip into the rest
2 tsp cocoa
1/8 c coconut milk 

Shape filling into balls, then dip them into coating. Then, optionally, roll them in the following powder:

 Rolling powder (optional):

Cocoa powder
Coconut flour
Shredded coconut
Xylitol
Almond meal
(or any combination of the above)

Place "finished" truffles on a waxed-paper lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle powder ontop, if desired. When ganache is sufficiently thick, it can be used alone to make balls of truffle, with powder sprinkled on top.

Let sheet of truffles cool in the fridge (/garage if it's cold out!) before storing/serving. Keep in fridge.

Awesome!