Cinnamon Rolls from a Newbee

[Luvtokuk]

New to the forum. I love to cook and bake; hence the username.
I recently developed this recipe for Cinnamon Sticky Buns for my wife (a Type 2 diabetic) to she and I could enjoy a special breakfast together.
I’m not a dietician so I can’t speak to the exchange values of the ingredients. I’ll leave that to whomever might be interested in trying this one.

Note: All ingredients should be at room temperature

3 ¼ tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons Splenda® (or Altern® [Walmart®])
1 medium egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon extract (lemon, vanilla, coconut, etc.)
7 ½ ounces all purpose flour (subst. bread flour)
1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (or 1 tsp. instant yeast)
1 ¼ cup whole milk (room temperature)
½ cup mix of cinnamon and Spenda® or Altern® (concentrations depending on individual taste)
Smuckers® sugar free caramel sauce
Chopped pecans or other favorite nuts
Golden or black seedless raisins (optional)

Cream butter, salt and sugar together in stand mixer with paddle attachment.
In large bowl, beat together the egg and extract. Add the milk, flour and yeast to this mixture, combine with the creamed butter and mix on slow speed until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. The dough should be tacky but not sticky. If it’s sticky, add small amounts of flour as needed to develop proper texture.
Change to dough hook and knead the dough for 8 – 10 minutes or until dough has a smooth, even texture and appearance and passes the window pane test.
(Window pane test: pull off a small piece of the dough and roll it into a ball. Flatten the ball with your hand by pressing it onto a flat surface, the gently and evenly pull on it to stretch it as evenly as possible. As the dough becomes progressively thinner you should be able to see through it’s opaque surface - while looking at a lighted window - and see the interlocking strands of gluten in the dough)
Place the kneaded dough into a large and lightly oiled dish, roll it around in the dish to cover all sides with a film of oil, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rest/raise at room temperature (approx. 70 deg. +/-)
Allow to rest until double in size (time period for this step will vary)
When doubled in size, place the dough ball on the counter or similar surface which has been lightly dusted with flour. (Alternatively you can lightly oil the counter top to prevent the dough from sticking while rolling it out)
Flatten the dough ball with your hands, the use a rolling pin (either dusted with flour or lightly coated with oil, depending on which method you’ve selected to prevent the dough from sticking) and roll the dough into a rectangle about 5/8 inch thick. Be careful not to roll the dough too thin in this step as it will affect the texture of the finished rolls.
Sprinkle the dough evenly with the Splenda® (Altern®) Cinnamon mix. At this point you can either sprinkle the nuts and raisins onto the dough or wait for the next step to use those two ingredients.
Roll the dough, from the longest side, into an even roll resembling a log. Roll with gentle pressure so as to ensure good contact between the layers but avoid compressing the dough.
Position the dough with the seam side down toward the counter and cut the log of dough into even pieces, approx. 1 ¼ - 1 ½ inches thick.
If you previously used the nuts and raisins, just place these cut pieces onto a parchment covered shallow sided cookie sheet, space approx. 3/8 – ½ inch apart.
If you have not yet used the nuts and raisins, drizzle enough of the Smuckers® caramel sauce onto the parchment to allow you to spread a thin even layer of the sauce over the parchment paper. Sprinkle the nuts and raisins onto the caramel sauce and lay the cut rolls on top as previously noted.
VERY LIGHTLY brush the tops of the rolls with vegetable oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours or until all of the rolls have developed to the point that they are touching each other.
Place oven rack at mid point in the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees f.
Bake the rolls for 20 – 30 minutes or until nicely browned and internal temperature at center of the mass, thermometer entering from the side, is approximately 200 - 205 degrees.
Remove from oven and, if you incorporated the nuts and raisins inside the rolls, drizzle Smuckers® caramel sauce over tops of hot rolls and allow to rest in the pan until cool enough to pick up with your hands, the remove to cooling rack.
If your rolls are resting in a pool of caramel sauce, nuts and raisins, allow them to cool for approx. 5 minutes or until they can be safely removed from the pan and inverted onto the cooling rack. At this point they too can receive a drizzle of additional caramel sauce.

Note: Splenda, Altern, Walmart and Smuckers are registered trade marks and/or commercial enterprises with which I have no familial relationship, nor do I receive remuneration or any other consideration from them, nor do I have any affiliation of any kind with these companies whatsoever.