I woke up craving cinnamon rolls.  Actually, I have been up since around 3, my brain working on “problems” and ideas until I decided that I wanted cinnamon rolls.  Cinnamon rolls are a bad idea, at least my kind– buttery and gooey with lots of fat and sugar tucked inside sweet white flour pastry dough.

I finally crawled out of bed and pulled out the little cake pop/donut hole maker to see what I could come up with.  The finished product did the trick.  The first batch was lacking in flavor and tasted too wheaty.  By the time I finished tweaking the batter and got the family up for breakfast, no one could tell they were whole wheat and everyone thought they tasted just like real cinnamon rolls.  I disagree that they are “just like”, but I won’t argue with success, especially when our Sunday breakfast table wasn’t groaning under the weight of pancakes with sausage and grits.

Ingredients:

Batter:

2 c. whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. turbinado sugar

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. skim milk

1/2 c. fat free plain yogurt

1 beaten egg

Streusel Filling:

3 T butter

5 T confectioner’s sugar

2 tsp. packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 T whole wheat flour

Glaze:

2 1/4 c. confectioner’s sugar

1/8 c. + 2 T water

Method:

For the batter, sift together the dry ingredients.

Beat the egg and add the milk and yogurt.

Combine well.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold gently to combine.

Mix together the streusel filling ingredients.

Heat the cake pop/donut hole maker according the unit’s instructions.

Drop 1/2 tsp. of batter into the bottom of each hole.  Scoop 1/4 of the streusel filling and drop it on top of the batter, pushing it down into the center as far as possible.

I found that the ones I hadn’t pushed in far enough leaked and caramelized over the lip of the donut hole and that you have to be quick with this step because the heat of the unit begins to puff the batter pretty quickly.  Cover the filling with 1 tsp. of batter.

The measurements are pretty precise to keep the batter from running over.  Keep the measurements with the spoons as level as you can or they end up looking like little planet Saturns, not so bad if you have boys like mine who love all things astronomical, but not so tidy as they should be.

Latch the maker and bake for 5 minutes.

Mix up the glaze by combining the sugar and water and beat until smooth.  Remove the finished drops and fill the baker with the next batch.  Dip the baked donuts in the glaze to coat them.

Shake off the excess and lay them on a plate to dry.

Makes about 5 dozen. 

I think these would work well in a mini muffin tin for those who do not have a cake pop maker.