I need an appliance makeover! aka The Cinnamon Roll Fiasco

I think the Food Network needs to create a show that helps poor souls like me makeover their kitchen appliance collection. They could even make it fun by having the contestants battle it out (similar to Cupcake Wars) with their crappy appliances. The winner would get sparkly new kitchen toys! Nothing fancy, just the basics like a stand mixer, food processor and hand blender.

So this past weekend, I wanted to try Naturally Ella's Vegan Cinnamon Roll recipe. They actually came out pretty tasty, but the consistency was totally off. I blame my crappy hand mixer because it totally couldn't handle the thickness of the dough and I had to kneed it by hand. I'm actually starting to hate my hand mixer to the point that I'm going to be trading it in for this beautiful thing:



No longer would I have to shy away from making certain cakes and pastries! I could make whatever I want! My cinnamon buns would never look like this ever again!



Yes, sad, I know. At least they tasted good.

Whole Wheat (vegan) Cinnamon Rolls
By: Naturally Ella/Erin
Details

* Prep Time:
180 min
* Cook Time:
20 min
* Ready In:
3 hour, 20 min

Servings: 8 pieces
Ingredients

* 3/4 cup almond milk warmed
* 2 1/4 tablespoons instant yeast
* 1 tablespoon natural cane sugar
* 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
* 3 tablespoons water
* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
* 1/2-1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

Filling

* 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
* 1/3 cup sucanat
* 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Icing

* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 3-4 tablespoons almond milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

* In a small bowl combine ground flax seed and water, set aside. Heat almond milk (either in a sauce pan or microwave)- don't let it get too hot (I zapped mine in the microwave for about a minute.)
* In a stand mixer bowl, at milk, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about five minutes or until yeast activates. Add in oil, flax seed mixture, salt, and the wheat flour. Give a good stir with a spoon and then turn on the mixer with the dough hook. Begin adding the all-purpose flour 1/4 cup at a time, letting it mix in before adding more. You want your dough to be soft (but not sticky) and the key to that is adding just enough flour so that it pulls away from the sides of the bowl but may still slightly stick to the bottom and letting it knead for 5-8 minutes.
* Once the dough is here, scoop out of the bowl, form into a ball, place back in the bowl, brush it with a oil, and let it sit in a warm, draft free spot for 1- 1 1/2 hours.
* Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a 8 by 12 rectangle. Brush oil over entire surface and sprinkle sucanat and sugar over the entire surface. Begin the the edge closest to you and roll away from you- tucking the dough in as you go (I always think of it as like rolling up a sleeping bag. Once you have the log, squeeze it just a little and mark eight rolls out (I use the cut in half method- Half once, Half each of those, half each of those). Place in a round 8" cake pan that has been rub with oil. Cover with a warm towel and let rise again for 45 minutes to and hour.
* After about a half hour of rising, pre-heat your oven to 350˚. Once rolls have risen and oven is up to temperature, bake for 15-20 minutes. Rolls should be firm to the touch and golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly while you make the icing.
* To make the icing, place powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl- add only enough almond milk to get a thick consistency of the icing. If you find you added too much milk, add more powdered sugar. Also, if you want to leave these with a little less sugar, leave the icing out completely- they are delicious even without.