Christmas food ideas: Cranberry rolls

According to Wikipedia, cranberries are a source of several vitamins, micronutrients and antioxidants, and may have benefits for cardiovascular health, immune functioning, kidney functioning, and as anti-cancer agents.

I suspect these benefits are most potent in raw, unsweetened cranberries, but I think we could argue they extend to these cranberry rolls too.

Or at least, I'm going to argue that because I have eaten rather a lot of these and I'm looking forward to eating more.

Like a cranberry version of a fruit bun, these are slightly sweet without being too sweet, and have a bready texture that is worth the kneading and rising time. I think they would be a perfect addition to Christmas breakfast or brunch, or at Christmas themed picnics.

The fact that I recommend these after making a complete mess of our kitchen, and getting dough irretrievably stuck in the bottom of my KitchenAid dough blade, probably says a lot too. They were worth the mess!

Cranberry rolls

Makes approximately 20 rolls

Adapted from cranberry nut rolls at Tracey's Culinary Adventures

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Ingredients

3 1/2 cups + 1/2 cup bread flour

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups soy milk (or non-dairy milk of choice)

2 tbsp oil

Egg replacer to the equivalent of 1 egg (or 1 egg)

2 cups dried cranberries (~170g) (mine were sweetened but unsweetened would work well if you can find them and want a lower sugar option)
~1 tsp brown sugar, extra, optional

Instructions

Combine the 3 1/2 cups bread flour, brown sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl, a food processor with dough blade attached, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

Beat the dry ingredients together briefly, to combine, either using your food processor / mixer or by hand.

[I used a food processor with dough blade.]

Warm the milk to 35'C, if you have a thermometer, or for ~30 seconds on medium power in the microwave, until warm to the touch, if you don't. 

[I did the latter. I'm grateful these still worked out.]

Whisk the warmed milk and oil together. Prepare the egg replacer (or egg) and whisk this in with the milk and oil.

Gradually add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, beating on low speed. Continue beating for approximately 1 minute, until a wet dough comes together.

Add the cranberries to the dough mixture.

If you are using the dough blade in a food processor, continue beating with the dough blade to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes.

If you are using a stand mixer, swap the paddle attachment for the dough hook and beat on low speed to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 4 - 6 minutes.

If you are working by hand, knead your dough manually until smooth and elastic. 

Whilst kneading, add the extra 1/2 cup flour gradually.

When the dough is well-kneaded and smooth and elastic, transfer to a large bowl sprayed with cooking oil spray. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 2 hours.

[I actually left my dough to rise for 4 hours in this step, because I started this before we went out to run errands. Not brilliant planning. Again, I'm grateful these still worked out. I think they're resilient rolls.]

Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

When the dough has risen, roll into 20 small balls. Place these on the lined baking trays and spray with cooking oil spray. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another 1 1/2 hours. 

[Because of my 4 hour rising time earlier, I skipped the 1 1/2 hour rising here and went straight to the next step. Feel free to follow the original steps or take my haphazard approach.]

 Pre-heat the oven to 220'C. Sprinkle the rolls with extra brown sugar, if desired, and allow to rise for another 15 minutes.

Place the rolls in the oven and reduce the heat to 200'C. 

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, until slightly golden.

I checked my rolls at 15 minutes, thought they could do with a little longer, went back at 18 minutes and found them just a little too golden. Check regularly after 15 minutes!

This recipe sounds complicated, but it really isn't. The hardest part is kneading the dough / cleaning up after the kneading, and allowing time for the rolls to rise. As I noted, the result is definitely worth the time required.

I found that the rolls were quite fluffy and light on the day they were baked, and didn't seem that different to baked goods made without yeast. However, by the second day they were more like rolls, with a chewier and doughier texture.

Quite delicious!

Tracey's original recipe had 1 cup of cranberries and 1 cup walnuts, and that would be a less sweet alternative if you like nuts in baked goods. I think adding some orange juice would be a nice flavour combination too.

Do you have any favourite uses for cranberries?

Expect more Christmas themed recipes over the next few weeks :)

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