Cinnamon Rolls

Weight Watchers Cookbook Magazine:  Day by Day, Copyright 2000
Cinnamon Rolls
If you were ever on the Weight Watchers diet program back around the year 2000 or so, you might remember these magazine cookbooks.  They were only available at the meetings, and they were quite pricey- I think I remember paying $10 per cookbook.  Unlike the Weight Watchers magazine that is currently published, these magazine cookbooks do not contain articles or fitness tips of any kind- they simply contain recipes.  And lots of good ones, I might add!  I have a handful of these cookbook magazines and, believe me, they are treasured sources for lighter recipe ideas.  This particular one, Day by Day, focuses on 130 Recipes to Simplify Mealtime.  Not to worry, you can still locate these cookbooks from sellers on Amazon- just click the title on this post to see how you can score one.

I’ve been drooling at this recipe cover for years now, and was happy to finally have a reason to make it.  We needed cinnamon rolls to accompany our Christmas brunch and since the rest of the meal was going to be pretty darn decadent, we needed a cinnamon roll recipe that wasn’t going to be too over the top and fat-laden.  I remembered this cover and dug it out… perfect!  A warning is in order though- these cinnamon rolls turn out to be just as delicious as their evil counterparts, so you’ll want to have a lot of people to feed when you bake these up (or they may end up being your diet-buster!)
Cinnamon Rolls
Source:  Weight Watchers Magazine Cookbook:  Day by Day, Copyright 2000

ingredients:
One 16-ounce box hot roll mix (see notes below)
1 cup very warm water (120 to 130 degrees)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. reduced calorie stick margarine, softened & divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
cooking spray
3/4 cup (sifted) powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. fat free milk

directions:
1.  Place contents of roll mix box (flour mixture and yeast packet) in a large bowl.  Add very warm water, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp. margarine, and egg, stirring until moist.  Shape dough into a ball.
2.  Sprinkle 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour evenly over work surface.  Turn dough out onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).  Cover and let rest 5 minutes.
3.  Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 tsp. flour evenly over work surface.  Roll dough into a 16×10-inch rectangle on floured surface; spread remaining 2 Tbsp. margarine over dough to within 1/2-inch of edge.  Combine 1/3 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough.  Sprinkle with raisins. Roll up dough, jelly-roll fashion, beginning at 1 long edge; pinch seam to seal.  Cut roll into 16 (1-inch) slices; place 8 slices, cut sides down, into each of two (8-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray.  Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5.  Bake for 20 minutes or until rolls are golden.  Combine powdered sugar and milk, and stir well.  Spread glaze over warm rolls.

Yield:  16 servings
Weight Watcher Points per cinnamon roll:  4
Nutritional information per cinnamon roll:  Calories 191, Protein 3.8g, Fat 3.4g, Carbs 36.7, Fiber 0.2g, Cholesterol 16mg, Iron 0.5mg, Sodium 142mg, Calcium 29mg

Notes from Culinary Covers:
*Pillsbury makes a hot roll mix- you’ll find it in your market’s baking aisle close to other bread mixes
*I used my KitchenAid Mixer for the kneading and then tossed in the flour that is indicated in the recipe during the kneading process- worked perfectly.
*I didn’t use stick margarine- I used I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter Light, and it worked just fine.
*I’m quite sure that if you used 9-inch cake pans instead of 8-inch cake pans, they’d turn out just fine.
*If it’s winter in your house & there isn’t a place that is remotely close to 85 degrees, use your oven as a place for rising.  Turn it on briefly (1 minute) and turn on the oven light too.  Then turn the oven off and use that as a warm place to let your rolls rise.
*See that gorgeous picture on the cover of their magazine?  There’s no way they achieved that oozy icing picture without using more icing than is instructed in the recipe (unless they put all of the icing on that one  cinnamon roll in the front there.  The recipe would still be good with just the amount indicated, but I did end up doubling it for the ones I did at home (we like our icing!)

Did this recipe deserve the cover?  Absolutely!  These were dangerously delicious.  With one cinnamon roll being only 4 points on Weight Watcher’s points system, it definitely shows dieters that you can still enjoy fantastic, normal food when you’re watching what you eat.

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