Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls. image: Essy Roz

Last night I’ve dreamed of her,
A sweet and tasty dream,
I’ve dreamed about the noise her bracelets used to make,
They way she played her kitchen like an instrument,
The smells,
The noises,
The warm home,
The great sense of home that was in that house. 

I set with her for a cup of tea that only she knew how to make,
In the center of the table there was a plate of soft and vivacious date cookies.
Filled with cinnamon aroma,
And big excitement.

How I missed,
Missed my grandma Esther.
I missed the scents,
The feelings.
So I walked into my kitchen,
I mixed and felt that dough, so soft and correct.
I realized how I’m turning an old recipe of years and generations to something simple that’s very 21st century,
How I bring all the feelings into one devine recipe.

This is a recipe of longing and many kind words,
It’s a recipe from home that got a facelift of contemporary ingredients.

It’s my recipe for longing,
To my sweet dream to that one person whos always in my heart,
My grandma Esther,
Even though she’s gone,
The memories from home,
Of her playing her kitchen,
And those real and pure hugging scents and they’re with me everywhere and always.

21st century’s date honey & cinnamon rolls,
A gorgeous bite,
Vegan,
Gluten-free,
And no added sugar.

It’s a recipe one brings into the kitchen with great honor,
Let it hug you,
And dedicate it to the most loved ones in your life.

Sweet, tasty and happy days of longing to us all 🙂

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients: suitable for between 12-15 cookies

Dough:

• ½ cup almond butter
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup oat (For alternatives, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)
• ¾ cup almond flour (For alternatives, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder 

Stuffing:

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup date honey (For alternatives, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)

Of course any filling you like is optional 🙂

Kindly note** In case the dough is too sticky / drier than what the pictures show, here are a few things you can do to bring the dough to where it’s easy to work with: If the dough is wet and sticky, gradually add almond flour (Between 2-3 tablespoons) and knead it. Each time add one more spoon until forming dough that’s convenient  to work with. If it’s too dry and crumbly, add 1-2 tablespoons of almond butter and knead the dough until forming a texture that you can work with.

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) on turbo mode.
2. In a mixing bowl put all wet ingredients, almond butter, maple syrup and salt and mix until getting a bright and beautiful spread.
3. Add all dry ingredients to the mixing bowl, almond flour, oat flour, baking powder and mix well. I recommend using a silicone spatula or spoon first and once crumbs of dough are formed continue to mix by using your hands, creating one big ball of dough. In case the mixture is too sticky and moist or too dry – read the note written above “Steps” 🙂
4. Roll out the dough between two parchment papers to a square or rectangle shape until it’s ½cm (0.2”) thick and peel away the top sheet of parchment paper. Try to roll out the dough as evenly as possible so the cookies won’t burn in the oven.
5. Now let’s make the filling: In a mixing bowl pour cinnamon and date honey and mix well until receiving a bright liquid spread. Spread our filling on top of the rolled out dough, try spreading it as evenly as possible.
6. Roll the dough using the bottom sheet of parchment paper placed under the dough into filled dough rolls, and move our filled rolls to the baking pan (Have a sneak peek at the pictures below).
7. Using a serrated knife, cut the rolls into cookies that are 1 finger thick. Notice not to cut the rolls all the way through, only notch the top while keeping its shape (Have a sneak peek at the pictures below).
8. Put inside the oven and bake for between 10-12 minutes until they turn golden and beautiful.
9. Take the rolls out of the oven, Let the cookies cool (Very important) and go over the cuts we did with a knife so that the rolls will separate easily from one another.

Cool, sprinkle with sugar powder and serve 🙂

A little extra from me:

• Can be kept on the counter / sealed jar for up to 4 days.
• The rolls are soft and moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.
• Almond butter can be substituted for peanut butter / raw tahini. The best version is the one containing almond butter.
• Maple syrup can not be substituted for anything in this recipe. Without it the dough won’t form therefore it’s unsubstitutable.
• Date honey can be substituted for any chocolate spread that you like.
• Cinnamon is dispensable in this recipe.
• Oat flour can be substituted for more almond flour. The best version is the one containing oat flour.
• Click here to see how to grind oat flour at home.
• Almond flour can be substituted for a total of 1¼ cups of oat flour.

How to grind oat flour at home 🙂

The wet ingredients. image: Essy Roz

Our beautiful ball of dough. image: Essy Roz

The ball of dough on the baking paper. image: Essy Roz

Roll out the dough between the two baking papers. image: Essy Roz

The dough is rolled between the two baking papers. image: Essy Roz

Remove the top baking paper from the dough. image: Essy Roz

Preparation of the silane and cinnamon filling. image: Essy Roz

A uniform layer of the filling on the rolled dough. image: Essy Roz

Rolling the dough into a roll. image: Essy Roz

Cut the roulade into cookies without separating them. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls before baking. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls after baking. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls. image: Essy Roz

Date Honey & Cinnamon Rolls. image: Essy Roz