BOGART LOVES: Quick Cinnamon & Cardamom Rolls

As my winter of all things sweet continues, I recently found myself craving a warm, gooey breakfast roll. Not the kind dripping in caramel and filled with pecans, but just a simply fragrant cinnamon roll, filled with warm spice and smothered in a tangy white icing. Though I've never made such rolls from scratch, it seemed to me that they would require quite a bit of time, which I was not interested in spending. Enter puff pastry. I always have a box of puff pastry in the freezer and it seemed to me that these ready made sheets of pastry would be just perfect for that quick morning roll I was after. Luckily, I was right. Just thaw a box of puff pastry in the refrigerator over night, then in the morning, roll the pastry up with brown sugar, cinnamon and, for some extra special spiciness, a bit of ground cardamom. Bake until golden then smear with a tangy, cream cheese icing. As these perfectly sized rolls puff in the oven, the ratio of crisp outer crust to soft, gooey and buttery inner dough is divine. Plus, in the short 20 or so minutes it takes for these to bake, your entire home will fill with the glorious smell of warm cinnamon. These puff pastry rolls will most definitely fulfill your warm breakfast roll cravings, and in record time.

Quick Cinnamon & Cardamom Rolls
makes 12

For the rolls:
1 package of frozen puff pastry (2 sheets) thawed overnight in the refrigerator
3 Tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp kosher salt

For the icing:
2 Tbsp cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbsp buttermilk
1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
tiny pinch of kosher salt

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine both sugars with the cinnamon, cardamom, salt and one tablespoon of the melted butter. Mix together until combined and set aside.

Remove puff pastry from the refrigerator and unfold both squares on your work surface. Brush each square of pastry equally with the remaining two tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle the sugar and spice mixture evenly over the two sheets of pastry. Gently press the sugar mixture into the pastry. Tightly roll each sheet of pastry into a cylinder of dough. Trim the ends off each roll and carefully slice each roll into 6 pieces, for a total of 12. Carefully transfer each roll into a cup of your muffin tin. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the pastry is golden and the sugar is bubbling. Do not over bake or you will risk burning the sugar.

While the rolls are baking, make the icing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and buttermilk until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. Whisk in the vanilla. Add the sifted powdered sugar, and whisk until completely smooth. Add a tiny pinch of salt and whisk again until combined.

While still warm, transfer the rolls from the muffin tin to a parchment lined sheet pan. Smear or drizzle rolls with the icing. Enjoy rolls while they are still warm.