Five Spice Sweet Rolls (#20 TYSC)

Five Spice Sweet Rolls
#20 of the Treat Yo' Self Challenge
sweet doughs chapter

I'm a sucker for caramel rolls (but only with walnuts) and for cinnamon rolls (only if they aren't sickeningly sweet), so I was cautiously optimistic about this recipe. We don't normally have cream cheese in the house, so there have been a few weekends I would have already made this one except for that missing key ingredient.  But I got my act together this week, put the necessary ingredients on the grocery list, and last night I was finally ready!

Not too long ago I bought a small container of Chinese five-spice (along with a whole bunch of other spices that we were running low on and actually do use on a regular basis) from Penzey's because I had some sort of pork dinner I wanted to try out. As you may have guessed, I keep forgetting to put the correct cut of pork on the grocery list, so the five spice has been just languishing in our spice cabinet. Since I've never used it before, I really had no idea what to expect as far as having this be the flavoring in what otherwise looks like a standard cinnamon roll recipe.

I prepped everything the night before so I could just toss it all in the oven first thing this morning. Doing so extends the  baking time, but still is faster than having to do both rises in the morning.

Verdict:  OMG, Chinese five-spice is AMAZING!! This brings a depth of flavor that no cinnamon roll I've ever had previously has ever come close to touching. Now I don't even want to buy that cut of pork, because all I want to do is save the five-spice for making this recipe. This is a hands-down winner of a recipe!!!