Hey, New Orleans summer, screw you.

Sincerely,

Beau's bangs

Look, call me vain but I've had a peacock of hair on my forehead for the last three months because humidity and heat and I thought for just a moment last week when it was cool enough to wear a hoodie that it was suddenly fall and my bangs could rest and lay back into a smooth, wavy ridge... but no. It's hot again. It's hot as hell. I'm melting. We're melting. Everything is melting and my hair is freaking out.

This weekend someone literally shouted "werk that flip, queen!" across a street at me. Werk. That. Flip. Queen. THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THE PEACOCK HAIR FLIP THING I'VE GOT GOING ON. I think it was a compliment? But still, like, it's noticeable enough for strangers to actually yell at me so this is obviously a legitimate problem.

Oh, and all those pictures you see on Instagram of my hair looking perfect? Photoshop. Ok, not really Photoshop, we're not that crazy (yet). But, those pictures are taken after globs of product are applied and within ten minutes my hair slowly starts to fan out into it's "hey look at me I'm a big peacock on Beau's head" position. Matt keeps telling me to cut it all off (he is clearly trying to destroy me) but I won't cut it because I think it has a lot of potential come cooler weather so I'm holding out hard for it.

Anyway, other than being hairrassed this weekend (see what I did there?), I also showed Matt how to do some baking stuff. We had a day of escaping the heat and shutting ourselves into our 68 degree apartment to chill with food and each other, so we made these breakfast rolls. He was really really good at spreading the apricot preserves and eating the finished product. What a life.

These are basically cinnamon rolls, but slightly denser. I've filled them with apricot preserves which adds a fantastic fruity and tangy element and thrown on a matcha glaze that does the duty of making it feel equal parts like a breakfast and a dessert, and also makes it green, which is fun. Yay green food, yay dessert, yay breakfast!

Have a good week, cuties, I'm going to go slather my hair in pomade.

Matcha Apricot Breakfast Rolls

(serves 8 -12)

Dough

3 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar + 1 t sugar
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 stick melted butter + more for greasing pan and hands
1/4 oz pkg active dry yeast
1/2 c lukewarm water
1 egg, beaten
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract
1 t almond extract

Apricot Filling

10 oz apricot preserves
1 cup light brown sugar
1 t cinnamon

Matcha Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
3 t AIYA Cooking Grade Matcha
1 t almond extract
2 T butter, melted
2 T whole milk

Start by preparing the dough. Whisk the 1 t sugar with the lukewarm water and yeast, and let sit for about ten minutes, until the yeast has activated and begins to bubble. If it does not begin to bubble, try a different packet of yeast, or make sure your water is only slightly warm, as hot water can kill the yeast.
While the yeast is activating, whisk together the whole milk, melted butter, egg, and both extracts in a medium bowl. Whisk in the activated yeast mixture. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Form a small well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the milk mixture into the center. Using the dough hook, begin mixing everything together on low, scraping down the bowl as necessary to fully incorporate all ingredients.
Turn the speed to high and kneed for 6 - 8 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, forming a ball around the dough hook.
Grease your hands and transfer the dough to a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for an hour and a half in a room-temperature or warm place, until doubled in size.
Transfer dough to a heavily floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle about 18" x 12", and about 1/4" thick. Use a spatula or knife to evenly spread the apricot preserves across the dough, leaving about 1” around the edges to avoid the filling spilling out when you roll the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the preserves.
Use your hands to roll the dough, along the longer side, into a cylinder. Once the log shape has been created, press gently to give it more structure.
Use an extremely sharp serrated knife to gently saw the log in half. Cut each half in half, and so on, until you have 8, or 12 rounds, depending on how large you want the rolls to be.
Carefully transfer the rolls into a buttered pan and cover again with plastic wrap, let proof for an additional half an hour. While the rolls are proofing, place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Once the rolls have proofed for half an hour, bake them for 25 - 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool until still warm, but not like burn your face off hot.
While the rolls are cooling, make the glaze by whisking together all of the ingredients until there are no lumps left over, and pour it over the rolls while they are still in the pan. Alternatively, for a prettier glaze and presentation, remove the rolls from the pan and gently spread the glaze on top of each individual roll.
Serve warm or room temperature.

Thank you so much, Aiya Matcha, for sponsoring this post! Their cooking grade matcha is what gets used in all of the matcha desserts on this site, and is a great way to make baked goods and cocktails a little more interesting! You can buy your own, here. All opinions are our own.

Matt // Shirt

Apricot Matcha Breakfast Rolls