Tasty & Healthy Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

Hello everybody!

Due to the wintery weather outside and for the fact that we have all eaten so much during the christmas time, I was looking for healthy, low-calorie christmas dessert that still taste like 1000 calories per piece. Because swedish cinnamon rolls or buns appeared to be a quite appropriate dessert for christmas, I decided to try out the recipe that you can find here. I tried to divided these steps up so that it becomes a bit clearer.

Ingredients

Serving: 18 rolls (I made 22)

Nutrition per roll: cal-120, fat-1g, sodium-135mg, carbohydrate-25g, protein-3g

3,5 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 pkg (or 2,25 tsp) fast acting yeast

1 cup water

2 tbsp margarine

2 egg whites

2 tbsp apple juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Instruction:

1. In large bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, 1 tsp sugar, salt and yeast. Blend well. 

2. In small saucepan, heat water and margarine until very warm (120-130°F). Add warm liquid and egg whites to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened and beat another 2 min at medium speed.

3. By hand, stir in an additional 1-1 3/4 cups flour until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl.

4. On floured surface, knead in 3/4 cups flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 min. Cover with large bowl and let rest 5 min. (I use this time to clean up.)

5. Grease 2 x 8'' or 9'' square pans.

6. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 18''x10'' rectangle.

7. Brush with apple juice. Combine 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on dough.

8. Starting with 18'' side, roll up tightly pressing edges to seal. Cut into 18 one inch slices and place cut side down into greased pans.

9. Cover and let rise in warm place (80°F)  until light and doubled in size, about 30 min.

10. Heat oven to 375°C. Uncover dough and bake 25-30 min or until light and golden brown. Dizzle warm rolls with glaze if desired (see recipe below).

Glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tsp skim milk

I made them without the glaze and they were absolutely delicious! You can also sprinkle some sugar crystals on top if you want. This was the first time I have ever done cinnamon rolls so that it took me about 2 hours and 30 minutes to do them. I am sure you'll be faster! I also recommend eating the a day after you have baked them because then the cinnamon can develop its full aroma. For those who are interested, I made something completely different for Christmas: a variation of different sorbets ;) What did you make as the christmas dessert?

Wish you a wonderful pre-christmas day! Love,