Cranberry-Maple Cinnamon Rolls

(eat-yourself-skinny.com)

Cinnamon rolls, truly the single greatest comfort food. But comfort doesn’t always have to mean unhealthy! These are made with whole wheat flour and very little butter. Sweetened with pure maple syrup and a touch of brown sugar, these cinnamon rolls are certainly something to swoon over! See more at Eat Yourself Skinny.

Cook Time:30 min

Prep Time:1 hours

Total Time:1 hours30 min

Servings: 15

Ingredients:

1 Cup fat-free milk

2 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (or agave nectar)

2 Tablespoon butter

1 Teaspoon salt

1/4 Cup warm water

1 Package active dry yeast

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/4 Cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 Cup all purpose flour

1/3 Cup packed brown sugar

2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 Cup dried cranberries

1/4 Cup chopped pecans, toasted

2 Tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon very hot water

3/4 Cup powdered sugar

1/4 Teaspoon maple flavoring

1-2 Teaspoon fat-free milk

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine warm water and yeast and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat milk, maple syrup, butter and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat until just warm then set aside.

Using a stand mixer, add egg and milk mixture to yeast mixture and slowly add in the whole wheat flour. Add as much all-purpose flour as you can, reserving the rest.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make dough moderately soft so that it is smooth and elastic (kneading about 3 to 5 minutes). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for an hour until doubled in size. Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, lightly grease a 13x9-inch baking pan and set aside. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in dried cranberries and pecans.

Roll dough into a 15x8-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with pecan mixture, leaving one inch unfilled along one of the sides. Starting from the long filled side, roll up rectangle. Pinch dough to seal seam and slice into 15 equal pieces. Arrange pieces, cut sides up, in prepared baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place, about 30 minutes, until nearly doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine brown sugar and the hot water, stirring to dissolve brown sugar. Whisk in powdered sugar and maple flavoring. Whisk in enough milk to make drizzling consistency. Once rolls are done, let them cool for about 5 minutes and remove rolls from pan. Drizzle with maple-brown sugar icing and enjoy!