Cinnamon Chocolate Rolls

Cinnamon is my favourite spice. A recent trip to the wholesale spice markets of Thiruvananthapuram ensured that I have enough to last me quite a while. The plus point is that fresh ground cinnamon gets added to hot chocolate, coffee or oatmeal even!

These rolls aren't the first I've made (and unlikely to be the last!) are simple and quick enough to make for breakfast. Also, they make for awesome snack-box stuff!!!

Ingredients:

Dough:
All purpose flour - 3 cups
(2 cups of APF can be replaced with about 2 cups of whole wheat flour)
Instant yeast - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil (Sunflower) - 3 Tbsp
Water - as required

Filling:
Cinnamon - large 3-4" strip
Sugar - 4 Tbsp
Butter - 2 Tbsp (room temperature)
Chocolate chips - 1 cup (optional)

Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add water and knead till you get a soft pliable non-sticky dough. Add oil and knead some more. Cover and keep in a warm place to rise.

Prepare filling by grinding the cinnamon and sugar in a spice blender or dry grinder. Once the dough has risen to twice its volume, deflate and transfer to a counter top. Roll it out roughly rectangular and apply butter. Sieve the cinnamon-sugar mixture and sprinkle the chocolate chips. Roll it up an cut using serrated knife.

Arrange the rolls on a baking dish and let rise till oven is pre-heated to 180C. Bake covered for about 10 minutes and uncovered for another 10 to 15minutes. Check for done-ness and remove from oven. Transfer to cooling rack and serve warm.