Can’t Resist Cinnamon Rolls

For Mother’s Day my mom’s family decided to get together for breakfast (and lunch/dinner). What can I say? We love spending time with each other.

As soon as I found out we were doing this I knew I wanted to make The Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls. I had planned to make them for New Year’s but that never came to fruition. These were a lot of work but so worth it. Even if I didn’t end up making it to breakfast, my little family is still enjoying these.

Visit TPW website to see the step-by-step (ooh baby — sorry if you weren’t a New Kids on the Block fan then you won’t get that step-by-step ooh baby reference) photo tutorial.

Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls (Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:

2 c 2% Milk
1/2 c Vegetable Oil
1/2 c Sugar
1 package Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
4 c (Plus 1/2 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp (heaping) Baking Powder
1/2 tsp (scant) Baking Soda
1/2 tsp (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
1 c Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

MAPLE FROSTING:
2 c Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp Pure Maple syrup
1/4 c 2% Milk
1/8 c Melted Butter

Instructions:

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls:

Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Note: this will get messy as the melted butter is pushed out. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

Sweet Tooth Friday