whole wheat "healthy" cinnamon buns

So I love cinnamon buns.  A lot.  And this morning, while thinking of ideas to make for breakfast, I thought to myself, I have one more packet of yeast left soooo....I searched for "healthy" cinnamon bun recipes.  I found several and kinda mixed and matched them.  The result was delicious.  And I mean come one, it's Sunday, I'll eat healthy tomorrow.  Besides, Friday we went on a mountain bike expedition in the afternoon, and in the evening we rode our bikes downtown for dinner, then Saturday went on a killer hike.  And although we had ice cream and Pizza last night, well I think we warrant this cinnamon bun breakfast.

As a side not to the above picture, I have a problem when it comes to eating...I just can't wait to eat so I forget to take a picture until I am done.  Resulting in a more than half eaten pan of cinnamon rolls....oooh well.

Whole Wheat "Healthy" Cinnamon Buns

Dough:

-1 c skim milk
-1 packet yeast
-2 c whole wheat flour plus more for kneading and rolling
-2 tsp baking powder

-1/4 c sugar or honey (I used a little sugar, a little honey)
-1/4 tsp salt
-several shakes of cinnamon
-4 tbsp applesauce

Put the skim milk in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute, until warm.  Add yeast packet and stir (Note: Do not smell this mixture unless you want to gag.  I made the mistake....) Let sit for several minutes while you combine the other ingredients.

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon together.  Add yeast mixture, then applesauce.  Combine until formed into a ball (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer with the hook mixing fixture.)

Set on Floured surface and knead a few times, then roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

Filling:

-2 tbsp butter
-4 tbsp brown sugar or other (I used organic sugar, evaporated cane juice..that's what I use a lot as my white sugar substitute)
-2 tsps cinnamon (I hate measuring cinnamon so I just shook it a lot and made sure it was covering the dough

Melt bummer, pour over dough and spread so it evenly covers it with a spatula.  sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Roll into a log, and cut (about 1 inch) place in pan (I used an 8x8 but it was a little to small I had Enough to fill a small pyrex bowl with 5 small cinnamon buns,  You might want to use the next size up)

And here's the rising deal,  I didn't look up this recipe until the morning I wanted to eat them so I didn't have a lot of time or patience to let them rise.  If you make these the night before, you can cover them and put in the refrigerator overnight.  But if you make them the morning of, turn your oven to 200 for about 2 minutes, then turn it off.  Put cinnamon buns in the warm oven for 30 minutes or so, and TADA! they have risen.

Then, preheat your oven to 350 degrees (After you have taken the risen cinnamon buns out) if you refrigerated overnight bake for 20 minutes, if the cinnamon rolls are still warmish, bake for 15 minutes.  You do not want to overcook your cinnamon rolls or they will be very dry.

Icing:

-2 Tbsp butter
-1 tbsp milk
-1/4 tsp vanilla
-Enough powdered sugar to get it to the consistency you want

Mix all ingredients together.

After taking cinnamon rolls out of the over, pour mixture over top.  Let cool for a couple of minutes then enjoy!