Country Fried Cinnamon Rolls

Are now called something else...because I can't handle a controversy

Apr 21, 2024

Happy Sunday! We almost never chat on Sundays, but for this week, it’s for good reason! The newsletter is getting a bit of a change-up next week (a teeny, tiny change, nobody panic), but that means this week you’re just getting one recipe. BUT IT IS A GREAT RECIPE.

Cornmeal Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls - originally called “Country Fried” Cinnamon Rolls, but we (AKA, me) changed the name for authenticity’s sake (and to save me from the comments section). The name started because all of the country-fried food I grew up on was cornmeal-crusted, but turns out, the rest of America might not agree. Yet that doesn’t change that the cornmeal brown butter filling in these is deeply nostalgic, and that the cornmeal crumble topping and bourbon glaze still gives off a *hint* of cornmeal-fried-energy, you know?

Now, I had been toying with cornmeal brown butter for a while - dry toasting cornmeal, adding butter, and letting everything get all golden brown and delicious. I brought the concoction (no sugar added yet) to a friend, and he kept saying how it brought him back to something he remembered eating, he just couldn’t put a finger on it. Shortbreads? Graham crackers? Biscuits? He kept listing delicious things, and all I could think is: if this one combo makes you think of 8 million delicious things, then it must belong in a dessert.

So Cornmeal Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls. Here’s looking at you.

Side note, if you love creative-fun-cozy-unique dessert/breakfasts like this one, the dessert section of my cookbook is probably my favorite place to find more. You can pre-order a copy here!

Cornmeal Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CINNAMON ROLL DOUGH

23 grams active dry yeast, 5 1/2 teaspoons
330 grams warm water (between 80-95°F), 1 cup and 6 tablespoons
750 grams all-purpose flour, 5 cups and 6 tablespoons
10 grams Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 2 teaspoons
110 grams granulated sugar, 1/2 cup
1 medium egg
113 grams softened unsalted butter, 1/2 cup
180 grams heavy cream, 3/4 cup

FOR THE CORNMEAL BROWN BUTTER FILLING

90 grams yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup
226 grams salted butter, 1 cup
110 grams dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

FOR THE CORNMEAL BROWN BUTTER CRUMBLE TOPPING

90 grams yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup
113 grams salted butter, 1/2 cup
50 grams turbinado sugar, 1/4 cup
1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

FOR THE BOURBON GLAZE

50 grams powdered sugar, 1/2 cup, packed
1 tablespoon bourbon of choice
1 tablespoon water

METHOD

Begin all the components of the recipe 24 hours before you want to bake.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast and water and whisk together. Add the flour, salt, sugar and egg and use the hook attachment on the lowest speed setting of the stand mixer to mix together.
Adding one cube at a time, add the softened butter to the dough. Let each piece mix in before adding the next. The dough will be shaggy first, then sticky, then tough. When it is mostly together, turn the mixer to medium speed and let it mix until the dough is smooth and completely pulling away from the sides, 4-5 minutes. This dough is dense, so feel free to press it down into the mixer if it starts to creep up the sides of the bowl.
Transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover, and let it proof in the fridge for 18-24 hours.
Prepare the cornmeal brown butter filling. Set a pan over medium heat and add the cornmeal. Toast for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, then add the butter. Let the butter foam, stirring occasionally, until the cornmeal and the butter have both turned into a light shade of brown and smell nutty, 4-5 minutes. Transfer this to a bowl to cool.
When the cornmeal brown butter has cooled to room temperature, whisk in the brown sugar and salt. It's important not to do this too soon, if the butter is warm it will melt the sugar and make the mixture unspreadable. Only add the sugar when the butter is cool but still pliable. Cover and let this sit at room temperature overnight.
To make the cornmeal brown butter crumble topping, repeat the toasting of the cornmeal and browning of the butter with the second batch of ingredients. However this time, just transfer the cornmeal brown butter to a bowl. You'll add the sugar the next day. Cover this and let it sit at room temperature overnight. This is so that the cornmeal will absorb the butter and turn into a crumble-like texture.
The next day, remove the dough from the fridge. Lightly punch it down and transfer it to a work surface. No need to flour the surface, the dough will be tacky, like play-dough.
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large square, 24 inches by 24 inches. Whisk the brown sugar filling until it is room temperature and spreadable. Spread it evenly onto the dough.
Working from the furthest edge from you, roll the dough toward you, making a very tight coil.
Measure and mark down the roll every 2 inches. Cut the roll into 12 2-inch tall cinnamon rolls.
Line a sheet with parchment paper.
Pull the dough edge of each cinnamon roll out but 2 inches, then pull it over to cover the bottom of the cinnamon roll. This helps make it so that no filling escapes. Evenly space the cinnamon rolls on the baking sheet, and firmly press each one down so that they are half as tall.
Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours at room temperature.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F.
When the rolls are ready to bake, drizzle the tops evenly with heavy cream. Aim to get as much on the rolls as possible, anything that falls to the pan won't be as nice.
Bake the cinnamon rolls for 22-25 minutes or until golden.
While the cinnamon rolls are baking, take out the cornmeal crumble topping from yesterday. It will look completely solid, but use your hands to crumble it out of the bowl. It should turn into a crumble topping texture. Add the turbinado sugar and salt and lightly mix everything together with your hands. Set aside.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the bourbon glaze.
When the cinnamon rolls are out of the oven, brush them all with the bourbon glaze, then scatter the cornmeal brown butter crumble topping on top. Serve warm!

Phew! A long one, but a good one. If you have the time to make these, they will change your life. I promise.

In the meantime, I’m really excited for the change in next week’s newsletter. It’s a renaissance! I hope.

Talk then,

Xoxo,

Cinnamon_Snacks