Put in a little more effort than making a standard biscuit and you get Coconut Cranberry Rolls. It's a biscuit glow up.
These sweet rolls use an angel biscuit recipe. They're lighter than biscuits but denser than yeast rolls.
Fill them with curd, jam or the always welcome butter-cinnamon- sugar combo. I don't recommend fresh fruit; the excess water yields soggy results. Soggy rolls are sad.
Coconut & Cranberry Rolls
Text and Photo by Jac Kyles Baker
Makes 4 rolls
Ingredients
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup evaporated milk, warm
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 TB granulated sugar
4 TB butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/4 cup cranberry curd (see recipe below)
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted*
Preparation
For the rolls:
Mix the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar into the warm milk. Set aside while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
Place all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Cut the cold butter cubes into the dry ingredients.
Add the milk and yeast. Stir mixture until flour and liquid is incorporated. Dough will be fairly dry; don't add more liquid.
Place the dough on a flat surface. Pat and knead it together until it forms a smooth ball. Knead for 5 minutes. Return dough to bowl and let rest 10 to 15 minutes.
On a silicone mat or parchment paper, roll dough into a rectangle. Spread cranberry curd evenly over the surface and to the edges of the dough. Cover the cranberry curd over with the toasted coconut.
Roll the dough from the short end to form a spiral log. Trim the ends to neaten. Cut the log into four even slices (cut dough in half, then cut each half in two).
Place rolls on a microwave safe plate or parchment paper. Microwave on HIGH for a total of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Check progress every 30 seconds. If rolls, appear to dry half way though cooking time, reduce the power to 80%.**
Carefully, remove plate from the microwave. Cool rolls on a rack.
Store cooled rolls in an airtight container. Warm rolls in the microwave for 20 seconds at 50% power.
For the cranberry curd:
1/2 cup cranberry juice, from 1 cup of cranberries*
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 TB butter, cubed
2 tsp cornstarch
Preparation
Place cornstarch in a small bowl. Add 2 TB of cranberry juice and stir to combine to make a slurry.
Stir remaining cranberry juice and brown sugar together in a large glass or ceramic microwave safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.
Carefully remove bowl from the microwave. Stir cornstarch slurry into bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes.
Carefully remove bowl from the microwave. Add cubed butter into the cranberry mixture, about 1 TB at a time, briskly whisking after each addition of butter. Stir in condensed milk. Curd will be thickened but pourable.
Pour curd into a glass jar to cool. Seal with lid and store in the refrigerator.
Cook's Notes
*Toasted coconut isn't essential. But it will enhance the flavor.