The Easiest Cinnamon Rolls

Don’t you just love it when your kids organise play dates? Well, in this particular case my 9 year old son did arrange it, with mine and his mate’s Mum’s help but I completely forgot about this boy coming over and, as per usual, I was scurrying around at the last minute trying to find something to serve them for afternoon tea. I had to act quickly because I was due to collect them from school so I checked the freezer and the frozen puff pastry was staring at me. (I always have puff pastry in the fridge. It’s perfect for emergencies of any kind.) I thought “hmmm, I wonder if I just spread the sheet with a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, rolled them up, baked them and drizzled with icing?” And that’s exactly what I did for the easiest Cinnamon Rolls in the entire universe.

Take your sheet of puff pastry out of the freezer and turn your oven on to about 220 deg C.

Spread the sheet of puff with butter.

Sprinkle with brown sugar and then cinnamon. (I wasn’t sure of the quantities. Just enough until the pastry is covered lightly.)

Roll up into a ‘scroll’ shape and cut into slices about 1.5cm wide (1″).

Grease a cupcake pan really well with oil spray. You might even want to put a cupcake liner in there. I had a couple cinnamon rolls stick because when the sugar melted it turned into a sticky toffee mix and stuck. I had to pry out with a knife.

Bake until golden brown and bubbly. You can brush with an egg wash to make more golden brown but once the brown sugar/cinnamon mix melts, it makes them brown.

Make a simple glaze with 1 cup of icing sugar and about 1 tablespoon of milk (you can colour the icing mixture if you want) and spoon over the cinnamon rolls. You could even melt some chocolate and drizzle over.

I swear, these were so, so good and just like the ‘real’ thing. I had to taste test one, you know, before my son’s company came over and I had to stop myself. They were bite sized little bundles of cinnamon, sugary flakiness and so quick! Boy, they were quick. I think they’ll become a regular Sunday morning treat or if any of my children decide to have friends over and Mumma forgets to organise afternoon tea.

Baked ham, egg & cheese bread rolls

You know me, I’m all about using stuff up and this recipe came about one lunch time when I, well, wanted to use stuff up. We were sick of the regular bread rolls and sandwiches we’ve been eating all summer holidays and, just before Christmas, things were a little tight, as they always are. 

I had four round bread rolls that were a little on the dry side. I put them in a baking tray lined with paper.

‘Pinching’ from the middle top of the bread rolls, pull out as the bread until a ‘bowl’ forms. (I usually pop bits of bread like this in the freezer for bread crumbs.)

I beat a couple eggs, added some chopped ham and topped the rolls with grated cheese. You could crack an egg straight into the bread roll but I’m not that big on eggs so if it’s mixed with something else I can tolerate them better.

Pop in a warm oven until cheese melts and rolls are golden brown. These would be perfect for a lunch box, lunch or a light dinner served with a side salad. You could go crazy with what you put inside them and it’s a great way to use up leftovers. Freeze them for later on to have on stand by. (Also great for a quick breakfast-on-the-go idea.)

Baked Ham, Egg & Cheese Rolls

• 4 round bread rolls
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 slices ham/bacon, chopped
• 1 cup grated cheese

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Place bread rolls on a baking tray lined with paper.
3. Scoop out inside of each bread roll until a bowl is formed.
4. Add chopped ham/bacon to beaten egg mixture and pour into bread roll.
5. Top with grated cheese and place in the oven.
6. Cook until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown (approx 10-15 mins).

Oriental Chicken Rolls

Sausage rolls can hide a multitude of sins (or vegetables some people call them). Things like the bamboo shoots I mentioned at my last Mystery Ingredient Monday that were taking up valuable pantry space made it into these Oriental flavoured chicken sausage rolls. About the only ‘bad’ thing here is the puff pastry but you can buy that in a lighter version now or you could use filo pastry if you wanted to go lighter still.

My ‘fickle’ daughter wouldn’t try these but I was impressed with a little boy I had over for a play date and he is just as fussy but gobbled one of these up.

You could use pork or turkey mince if you like. Its just a matter of getting all the vegetables grated finely enough to make a smooth mix, add your herbs and spices, an egg and then something to thicken them. In this instance, I used quinoa but would normally use oats or breadcrumbs.

Spoon or pipe the mixture onto pastry, roll until just joined, brush edge with a beaten egg and cut pastry. I made two long rolls per standard sheet of pastry.

Think outside the square. Stock your pantry with staple ingredients so you could change up standard dishes like turning a humble chicken sausage roll into something with flavours from the Orient.

Oriental Chicken Rolls

 

• 250gm chicken mince
• 1/2 grated red onion
• 2 tbs finely chopped tinned bamboo shoots
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• fresh or tube coriander
• fresh or ground ginger
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• chilli, optional
• tube lemongrass, optional
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup quinoa (or oats)
• 2 sheets puff pastry
• 1 egg beaten for brushing

1. Mix mince, onion, bamboo shoots, garlic, coriander, ginger, chilli, lemongrass, egg and quinoa and combine really well.
2. Spoon or pipe mixture onto pastry. Roll until pastry has just joined, brush with beaten egg. Leave as is and cut once cooked or cut into smaller shapes before cooking.
3. Brush with beaten egg and bake in a 180 deg C oven for approx 25 mins or until golden.
4. Serve with sweet chilli or apricot ( mixture of apricot jam and BBQ sauce) sauce.