I recently went on the quest to find the perfect cinnamon roll. There are a lot of cinnamon roll recipes out there, trust me. I tried several, and decided on the Pioneer Woman's recipe. She is totally right when she says...........
" Make them for a friend today! It'll seal the relationship for life. I promise."
I made the maple ones for my ladies group and had lots ooh's and awe's and several recipe requests. I know now, we are all friends for life, sealed by the cinnamon rolls.
I also made them for my family. It was a good week for my kids, they had homemade cinnamon rolls every morning before school that week. They thought they were the luckiest kids on the planet.
There are several things I like about this recipe, they are pretty simple to make, not super time consuming, they can be made and left in the refrigerator over night, and then baked in the morning. And, the main reason....They are by far the best I have ever eaten!
You can change these rolls up, you can make cinnamon rolls with maple icing, or you can make them traditional, or you can make them in to orange rolls, which I will be trying soon!
I love the Pioneer Woman, if you haven't been to her blog, you don't know what you are missing. Her life is awesome, she is awesome!
Cinnamon Rolls
Dough:
1 quart whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages of active dry yeast
9 cups of all purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
Filling:
2 cups melted butter
1/4 cup ground cinnamon for sprinkling
2 cups of sugar
Frosting:
2 pounds powdered sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons butter melted
1/4 cup strongly brewed coffee
dash of salt
1 tablespoon maple flavoring or extract
Directions:
1.For the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a
medium saucepan over medium heat; do not allow to boil. Set
aside and cool to lukewarm.
2.Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1
minute.
3.Add 8 cups of flour. Stir until just combined, cover with a
clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a relatively warm place
for 1 hour.
4.Remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt
and remaining flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. Use the dough
right away, or place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for up to
3 days, punching down dough if it rises to the top of the bowl.
5.To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the pan.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle about
30x10 inches.
6.To make the filling, pour 1 cup of the melted butter over the
surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter
evenly.
7.Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of
sugar over the butter. Don't be afraid to drizzle on more butter
or more sugar!
8.Now beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle
tightly toward you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful
to keep the roll tight.
9.When you reach the end, pinch the seam together.
10.Transfer to cutting board and with a sharp knife, make 1 1/2
inch slices. On log will produce about 20-25 rolls.
11.Pour a couple of tablespoons of melted butter into the desired
pie pans or baking dishes and swirl to coat.
12.Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to over-
crowd.
13.Preheat oven to 375 degrees.(I baked mine at 350.)Cover the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the counter top
for at least 20 minutes before baking. Remove the towel and bake
for 13 to 17 minutes, or until golden brown. Don't allow to become
overly brown. While the rolls are baking make the maple icing!
14.In a large bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, milk , butter
coffee and salt.
15.Splash in the maple flavoring.
16.Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter
or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired
consistency. The icing should be thick but still pourable.
17.When the rolls are still warm, generously drizzle icing over the
top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top.
18.As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing's moisture
and flavor.
Thank you Pioneer Woman, you are the best!
Note: When I make these rolls, I only make a half of a batch. I use the
cheep round aluminum pans to bake them in. ( they seem to taste better
that way, go figure? and you can give them away as a gift.) I change my
frosting up according to who I am baking them for. You can freeze these
rolls, just bake, frost, let cool and freeze. Just warm them back up
at 250 degrees for 15 minutes.
