DECEMBER and what could be more delicious than the smell and taste of Cinnamon Rolls. This recipe comes courtesy of Ben, our multi-tasking mail order guru, astrophysicist and an amazing baker to boot. He says it is a really easy recipe, so we hope you enjoy it. Ben declines to say whether OLLIE (his four-legged friend and Team Member of the Month) actually baked them.

Ingredients

For the dough

345g plain flour

60g caster sugar

1 tsp salt

7g instant yeast (or 9g of active dry yeast)

120 ml water

60ml milk

45g butter

1 egg

For the filling

70g soft butter

1.5 tbsp cinnamon

60g dark soft brown sugar

For the glaze

120g icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and instant yeast in a mixing bowl. If using active dry yeast activate it with warm liquid from part 2.

2. Put the milk, water and butter in a bowl and microwave for about a minute until hot and not boiling. Add the active dry yeast now if using and let it sit for a few minutes then combine it with your dry ingredients and mix at a low speed.

3. Once it starts coming together, you want to add your egg into the dough. Then turn the speed up to medium until the dough comes off the sides. The mixture should be quite sticky

4. Dust worktop and scrape out dough onto it. Knead dough for about 4-5 minutes until it all comes together.

5. Put dough into a lightly greased bowl and leave it to prove for 15 minutes with a tea towel over the top of the bowl.

6. Whilst dough is proving, put soft spreadable butter, cinnamon and sugar into a bowl and beat together to make the filling.

7. Dust the table top and roll the dough out into a rectangle about 17 inches long and 10 inches wide. Spread your filling all over the rolled dough right up to the edges and roll it along the long edge all the way till it's fully rolled. Trim the edges.

8. Chop the dough about 4-5cm long and prove them again in a round cake tin - (check the swirl is facing up and make sure that there are gaps in between them because they double in size) - in a warm environment and cover them with tinfoil for 1-1 ½ hours.

9. Now bake them at 170 degrees Celsius Fan Oven or Gas Mark 5 for 25 minutes.

10. Whisk together the icing sugar, milk, salt and vanilla extract. Brush this glaze on when you take the swirls out of the oven so they are still hot.

ENJOY....