I was just looking through my food photos and saw these cinnamon rolls pictures that I had taken a year ago. I have no idea why I haven't posted these yet! I have always been scared of any kind of homemade bread recipe and cinnamon rolls seemed so hard to me. Well, I tried this recipe from Pioneer Woman's blog and they were AMAZING! The recipe makes a lot but if you prepare them in tin pie pans they can be frozen (before baking) and you can always have them on hand. The frosting even freezes well. However, that is a dangerous thing to do because they are so sweet and yummy you'll want them all the time. You could also score points with your friends and family and give some away :) The only change I made was with the coffee in the frosting. I personally don't drink it so I just added extra milk. The maple extract is a must though, trust me. Let me know how they turn out for you!
PIONEER WOMAN'S CINNAMON ROLLS
Ingredients:
■1 quart Whole Milk
■1 cup Vegetable Oil
■1 cup Sugar
■2 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
■8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
■1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
■1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
■1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
■Plenty Of Melted Butter
■2 cups Sugar
■Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
■MAPLE FROSTING:
■1 bag Powdered Sugar
■2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
■1/2 cup Milk
■1/4 cup Melted Butter
■1/4 cup Brewed Coffee (or just an extra 1/4 C milk)
■1/8 teaspoon Salt
Preparation 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. 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 375 degrees 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. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting.
YUM! Look at all of that butter!
