Happy New Year! And Happy Date Filled Cinnamon Rolls! (we can hit the gym next week)
2017 was one heck of a year. I celebrated a major milestone birthday. Then had a magical summer and fall to follow. I did a ton of international travel. 2017 was my year. I felt energetic, brave and empowered; like I could take on the world. I didn’t let life beat me down. Chocolate Cake, may or may not have had the power to pull me out of a pretty brutal disappointment. As I look back, 2017 was good to me, for the most part. I guess there’s no such thing as perfect.
2018 will be the year of me – Me, Zayna, and Me, Measuring Cups Optional. 2018 will be my selfish year. Why? Because it just so happens that if you’re not just a little bit selfish, the world will eat you up alive. Sounds horrible, but also true. See, in 2017 I learned a very valuable lesson: I am the most important person to me. I’m the only person who can bring myself happiness and help myself reach my goals. Yes, family and friends are the best. They provide invaluable moral support. I couldn’t live a day without them. But I was missing something really important—looking out for myself. I was too busy bending over backwards for other people last year that I lost sight of myself. As December came to a close, I realized that for the last year, everyone else was looking out for their own best interests. They made choices. They made decisions. They did things to make themselves happy, to get ahead, to get what they want, despite others, and sometimes, at the expense of others. I don’t condone being selfish at the expense of other people. That kind of selfishness ends up doing more harm than good, hurting the people who matter the most to you — oh yea, and karma has as a way of coming back around.
This year, my small change is to put me first, and MCO, of course! I have so many exciting things coming to the blog this year, I really can’t contain my excitement! I was hoping to launch some of those things today, but they just aren’t ready yet. Womp womp. That’s alright … stay tuned. So many exciting things to come in 2018.
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk, warmed
- 1 tablespoon dry active yeast
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, divided
- 1 egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 12oz package medjool dates
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/8 teaspoon orange blossom water
Instructions
- Place milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle yeast on top
- Wait 5 minutes, then add 3 tablespoons butter, salt, sugar, egg and flour
- Use a dough hook, and turn the mixer on low speed, slowly increasing the speed as the dough holds together
- Add flour to the bowl as needed to keep it from sticking
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and put in a draft-free place (like a cool oven) for 1.5 hours
- Pit the dates, then soak in boiling water for 15 minutes, then drain
- Use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to mash the dates
- Add cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar
- Continue to mix until well-combined
- Preheat oven to 350
- Between two sheets of parchment paper, roll out the dough to about 12in x18in
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter, use some of it to brush the dough, set aside
- Between two new sheets of parchment paper, roll out the date mixture
- Remove the top sheet and flip into on the dough, peel away the remaining parchment paper
- Starting on the long side, roll the dough and date mixture together, keeping a round shape
- Use unscented/unflavored dental floss to cut rolls about 1 inch apart
- Place in a parchment-lined baking dish
- Bake for 20-25 minutes
- Make the frosting by whisking together the powdered sugar, whipping cream and orange blossom water
- Frost the rolls as soon as they're out of the oven
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