Cinnamon Swirl with Brown Sugar and Almonds Recipe
Whenever we go to the mall I tend to avoid the Cinnabon stall, not because they aren’t good but because I can’t control my temptations. But the rules of temptations and restraint doesn’t apply to my kids. They happily eat right in front of me while I try not to drool and turn my focus on anything other than them. To make things hard my kids ask if I want some by sticking it right on my face. They are good kids, agreed! But I secretly think they offer it ever so generously because they know my pride rides up to my collar when it comes to sticking to my words and I wouldn’t take their share. Little did I know that I would be haunted by Cinnabon in my dreams and just to take the thoughts off I decided to make them once and get it done with. This recipe is from Ina Garten show’s “Barefoot Contessa” and I was floored by the unique idea of using pastry sheets instead of bread dough. As I was watching the show I couldn’t help but shake my head off by the sheer amount of butter and brown sugar she was using for the recipe. I liked the idea but had planned on cutting down the calorie intense ingredients by half. The swirls were awesome but I’m planning on reducing the butter even more the next time I make them.
There is endless possibilities in making your own filling like adding different nuts than almonds. The original recipe had walnuts but you can use any nuts that you favor. Make sure you watch your oven, mine was little overdone in 20 minutes while the original recipe called for baking them for 30 minutes. Thank god I didn’t burn the swirls to charcoal. To bake them in perfect portion size cut them into smaller pieces and bake these swirls in mini muffin pans and eat in moderation if you are working on your New Year resolution!
Step-by-Step Pictorial:
In a medium bowl, mix butter and brown sugar until creamy. Place about a tablespoon of butter-brown sugar mixture to the bottom of each muffin pan. Add chopped nuts on top. Leave it aside.
Roll puff pastry sheets on lightly floured working surface into a rectangle. Brush the sheet with melted butter. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of brown sugar evenly leaving about an inch on all four sides. Now sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder on top of the brown sugar followed by 1/2 cup raisins. From one long edge carefully roll them with the filling intact towards other edge. Cut the edges off and with a sharp knife cut them into 6 equal pieces. Repeat the process for the second sheet.
Arrange the swirls with swirl side up on each muffin cups. Bake at 400 F for at least 15 to 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Make sure you let the swirls cool for at least 5 minutes before turning them upside down. With gooey brown sugar topping and candied nuts these pastries are just awesome. Enjoy!!!
Cinnamon Swirl with Brown Sugar and Almonds
Ingredients
Unsalted Butter (at room temperature) -- 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) --I'm planning on reducing this to 1/2 stick next time.
- Light Brown Sugar -- 1/3 cup
- Almonds -- 1/2 cup (roughly chopped)
- Frozen Puff Pastry (defrosted) -- 1package (2 sheets)
- For the Filling
- Unsalted Butter (melted and cooled) -- 1 Tbsp
- Light Brown Sugar (lightly packed) -- 2/3 cup
- Ground Cinnamon Powder -- 3 tsp
- Raisins -- 1 cup
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, mix 6 Tbsp of butter and 1/3 cup of brown sugar until light and fluffy. Place about a table spoon of butter-brown sugar mixture to the bottom of each muffin pan. Add chopped nuts on top. Leave it aside.
Roll puff pastry sheets on lightly floured working surface into a rectangle. Brush the sheet with melted butter. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of brown sugar evenly leaving about an inch on all four sides. Now sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder on top of the brown sugar followed by 1/2 cup raisins. From one long edge carefully roll them with the filling intact towards other edge. Cut the edges off and with a sharp knife cut them into 6 equal pieces. Repeat the process for the second sheet.
Arrange the swirls with swirl side up on each muffin cups. Bake at 400F for at least 15 to 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Make sure you let the swirls cool for at least 5 minutes before turning them upside down. With gooey brown sugar topping and candied nuts these pastries are just awesome. Enjoy!!!
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