First, gather up and measure out all of the dough ingredients.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt with a blending whisk and set aside.
Then, in a large stand mixer bowl, pour in the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Beat the ingredients together on a high setting with the stand mixer fitted with a dough hook until completely mixed.
Add the flour mixture into the yeast mixture ⅓ at a time, mixing well between each addition.
The dough is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a soft, smooth ball of dough.
Then, split the dough evenly between 2 large bowls and cover your hands with disposable gloves because this next part gets messy!
Add a few drops of food coloring into each of the bowls of dough, one red and the other blue. Use your hands to knead and fold the colors into the doughs. Set the colored doughs aside to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the cinnamon filling.
Then, after mixing the cinnamon filling, lightly flour a large, flat surface for the dough.I like to use a dredge shaker to evenly distribute the flour onto my surface.
If the dough is too sticky, roll it around on the lightly floured surface.Using the chop cutter to help scoop the dough around to pick up the flour makes this step a bit easier.
Next, use the rolling pin to roll out one of the colored doughs until it is ¼ inch thick.
Place a sheet of parchment paper over the dough and use the rolling pin to fold the dough around itself without letting any of the dough touch, otherwise it will stick together.
Repeat the flouring and rolling process for the other colored dough. After rolling this dough out to ¼ inch, sprinkle the cinnamon filling over the entire dough.
Then, carefully place the other layer of colored dough on top of the cinnamon-coated dough. Use a small knife or the chop cutter to cut the combined dough into 1-inch strips.
Next, twist the dough strips and then transfer them to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet of twists on top of the heating mat and cover with a second baking sheet on top. Let the cinnamon twists rise for 30 minutes.
After rising, bake the patriotic colored twists at 375°F for 15 minutes.
Finally, let the twists cool completely before drizzling with the glaze. When it’s time, make sure to coat the twists with the sprinkles before the glaze hardens.
Filling
First, measure out the cinnamon filling ingredients.
Then, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cinnamon and sugar together until completely combined.
Glaze
First, measure out all of the easy glaze ingredients.
Then, use a blending whisk to combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until completely mixed.
Finally, drizzle the easy glaze over the cooled cinnamon twists and immediately garnish with sprinkles while the glaze is wet. Serve and enjoy!