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I'm about to make cinnamon rolls & one recipe calls for 2 whole eggs. The other recipe calls for 3 egg yolks. Which one will give me a moist, soft, cinnamon roll?

Kristina Lopez
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B. Eaton
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1 Answers1

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If you want soft and moist, you need egg yolks. Their emulsifier and fat content makes dough pliable, soft and smooth, and retains moisture.

Egg whites dry out a dough. This is sometimes desirable, e.g. in pate a choux. Eclairs made with whole eggs often have wet planes in the middle, resulting in an underbaked impression. If you remove some yolks from the dough and use a mixture of whole eggs and egg whites, you get a firmer, drier dough. But in many cases, people want softer, moister end products, and in such cases, recipes which increase the ratio of egg yolks to egg whites (by using more yolks than whole eggs, or yolks only) will give you a better result.

rumtscho
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  • But what if I whip the whites? – Agos Nov 07 '12 at 20:18
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    @Agos - if you whip the whites, your result will be fluffier and perhaps taller, but still drier than if you used egg yolks. Whipping adds air into the whites, making them light and airy, but the egg white proteins will still set stiffly once cooked - it will neither make your rolls soft, nor moist the way the fats in egg yolks will. – Megha Dec 08 '16 at 01:42