Cinnamon Twists

I love cinnamon and these twists are super easy to make with a packet of frozen puff pastry. They aren’t overly sweet without the icing glaze over-top so you can opt to use the glazing or not depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have.  If you like cinnamon buns, the taste is quite similar without all the manual work involved in making cinnamon buns.      

Brush the melted butter over the pastry dough and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar over top.

Thaw the pastry before cutting it into long 1 inch wide strips.  Use a pastry wheel or a pizza cutter to make the cuts more easily.  I discovered (after the fact) that it’s much easier to add the butter and cinnamon sugar BEFORE slicing the dough so that you don’t have to turn each little strip over one by one.

Twist each individual strip, pressing them down on both ends.  Bake for 15-17 minutes and then let cool completely before glazing the cinnamon twists.  

I actually made two batches of these and they disappeared so quickly.

Ingredients:
For the twists:
1 packet of frozen puff pastry or butter pastry dough
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder

For the Glazing:
2 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk (or orange juice)

Method:
For the twists:

1. Thaw the packet of frozen puff pastry at room temperature for about 2 hours (or according to package directions).
2. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and set aside for later.  
3. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper.
4. Unroll the pastry so that it lies flat on the counter or a cutting board and brush the melted butter over top before dusting the cinnamon sugar mixture over it.  Press the sugar mixture into the dough.
5. Turn over the pastry dough and brush the other side with butter and cinnamon-sugar as well.  
6. Slice into approximately 1 inch thick strips and then twist each one and lay onto the prepared baking sheet.  Press down at both ends.
7. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until they are lightly golden and nicely puffed up.
8. After taking them out of the oven I dusted more of the cinnamon-sugar on top of the twists.
9. Let cool completely before preparing the glaze and pouring it over the twists.  

For the Glazing:

1. Mix the icing sugar, butter, and vanilla together.
2. Add half the milk (or orange juice) at first and stir to make a thick glaze.  if it’s not thin enough add one additional drop at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
3. Spread or pour immediately over the cooled cinnamon twists.  Glaze will form a crust and harden as it cools.