Cinnamon Rolls with a twist

I needed small pieces of cinnamon roll for a crowd, so I took a tip from my new favorite simple cookbook and made over our family cinnamon recipe (which I still think is amazing.) It's simple, just take 1/2 the recipe and roll it out nice and big. Butter, sugar and cinnamon as usual (I also added some toffee bits) then roll it up and seal it. No changes thus far.

Now it gets fun. Slice it with a very sharp knife (I sharpened mine the other day) the long way. Yup, just one long slice all the way down the length of that hunk of dough. Now you have 2 delicate pieces that are spilling out all over the place. Take them and twist them together, trying to keep the filling on top. I forgot to photograph this step, which I regret, because it's beautiful to see the brown sugar striped twisting around themselves. Take the twist and wrap it in a circle on the inside of a springform pan. I used a 10", and I think it would be difficult to do it smaller unless you used less dough, which, of course, is easy, so never mind about that.

Seal the ends together the best you can, then let it raise, which mine didn't do well, but it's no biggie. Cook at 350˚ for 25 minutes, then beat 1 egg yolk with 1 tsp water and brush it over the rolls. Cook 15 minutes more, then remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove sides of pan and place a sheet pan or large cutting board under the cooling rack. Drizzle the thin icing over the top and let it drip down the sides and into the waiting pan. Cool completely, then slice and serve. Voila! Little cinnamon roll slices for many people!