Song lyrics are notoriously difficult to decipher, oh-so perilous to parse. Termed mondegreens (origins from a misheard line: ". . . And Lady Mondegreen. The actual fourth line is And laid him on the green") these funny mixed-ups happen to me. In order to write this title, I had to look up the lyrics online to the Blood, Sweat & Tears song (Ha! I wrote "Sweet & Tears," which required correction yet divulges the all-encompassing and indulgent deliciousness of these rolls!).
One question for you, my treasured, precious, ol' Internet: why-oh-why must all lyrics databases be rife with pop-ups, gauche ads, and mistakes, perpetuating mondegreens and annoying all decent lyric-hunters? And, as for you, my dear Wikipedia: why, pray tell, can't you create a legit lyrics wiki? (Or have you, behind my back, you rascal!?)
And why, Julia, are you talking about this song? I happed upon it while baking these cinnfully cashew-money rolls. And it's a catchy oldies song.
Ol' Sweet Potato Cinnamon Roll (Gluten-free & Vegan)
Thanks to permission from the authors, I adapted from this recipe. I made up my own original frosting, which is sweet, and used my own filling concoction and flour substitutes for the dough, which is soft and tender. Just about the best treat ever, and the saturated fat in the coconut oil is actually beneficial.
Ingredients:
Dough:
Dry Ingredients:
3 cups (plus more for flouring the board to roll it) white rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour (tapioca, teff, wheat flour, etc., should all work just as well. I substituted different flours from the original recipe and it worked great!)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Wet Ingredients:
2 cup minus 3 Tablespoons cooked, mashed sweet potato (mine were canned from Trader Joe's. This is how much I had on hand, plus the difference made up with apple sauce. However, any combo with varying amounts of mashed sweet potato, apple sauce, pureed fresh or dried fruit, mashed bananas, canned pumpkin, etc., totaling 2 cups, would be cool to try out and should work fine!)
3 Tablespoons apple sauce
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil or grapeseed oil (or whatever you have on hand: butter, even olive oil, etc.) plus some to seal the rolled-out dough on the edges
1 Tablespoon vanilla
Filling:
2-3 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4-1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup currants (raisins or chopped dates would also be great)
(didn't add extra salt)
Frosting:
1 Tablespoon raw cashew butter (could try almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or experiment with other flavors, like peanut butter, plus using a bit of banana instead of all sweet potato in the dough! Nothing like PB & Bananas. Ooo! Also, you could use less or no cinnamon and use unsweetened cocoa powder instead . . .)
1/4 cup vanilla So Delicious coconut yogurt (I like this stuff, but whatever yogurt you have on hand. If it's unsweetened, I'd use at least a Tablespoon of maple syrup instead of just a teaspoon)
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon coconut oil (or your other oil, or just skip this. I don't think it's super vital to the consistency)
dash of cinnamon
Instructions:
While the oven is preheating to 350 degrees, use about 1 teaspoon of coconut (or other) oil in two 8 or 9-inch cake pans. Stir the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined.
Filling:
Mix the ingredients with a fork. No need to heat in the microwave or anything. Now it's ready to spread into the dough once that's rolled out like butter scraped over too much bread (sayeth Bilbo Baggins).
Dough:
Using a large spoon, stir vigorously until smooth, or use a kitchen mixer or blender. Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of the dry, and mix, stirring in more flour, about a 2 Tablespoons to a quarter-cup at a time until the dough is ballin' up, but still a tad sticky and not too floury.
Sprinkle flour on a clean counter or a large cutting board using your flour of choice, and place the dough on it. If your dough looks exceedingly wet and your flour-coated rolling pin (or you could use your floured hands if you don't have a rolling pin) keeps getting stuck, sprinkle a touch more flour onto the top of the dough, about a Tablespoon at a time. Be careful to not use too much flour; this risks making the finished roll product much too dense.
Form or roll the dough into a big rectangle. Spread the two ends that will begin and end the roll with a Tablespoon or two of softened coconut oil to seal it. Then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon or your filling (the one I created, or even some tasty jam would be delicious).
Begin to roll from one of the long ends (one of the ends with the oil to seal it). A large, thin spatula (aka rubber scraper) coated with flour can help you pry the stubborn dough off the board if that's an issue. Also, if pieces of dough come loose, push them back into the loaf and continue, or try attaching at the end.
Once the dough has been rolled into a tight spiral, use a piece of thick thread or dental floss to slide underneath the spiral, then pull up, criss-crossing your hands and the two ends of the thread to slice. Situate the rolls into your oiled pans with about a cm circumference of personal space per roll. Bake for approx. 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a roll in the center of the pan comes out clean.
Frosting:
Heat frosting ingredients on high in microwave for about 30 seconds then stir well with a fork (my version didn't need additional salt. My cashew butter was unsalted, but I'd suggest adding to taste). Then drape warm frosting over rolls, which just popped out of the oven (on their own accord! They are yodeling, screaming (in a screamo sort of way?), begging to be devoured! But don't let them catch you off guard. You might just damage your jaw if you're reaching under the cupboards).
Enjoy this taste of the sky, or, rather, of cinn-ful heaven!
