Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls are one word--AMAZING! I actually do a combination of two recipes to make these rolls. I use the Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls dough recipe and then I use a caramel frosting recipe (the pioneer woman’s recipe calls for coffee in the frosting and she said that you could substitute the coffee with milk, but I decided to try a different frosting (I also didn’t have maple flavoring at home so that’s another reason why I went with a different recipe for the frosting)). You will honestly want to take a spoon and eat the caramel frosting out of the pot--it is so good!

I also only make a half batch of the dough cause it makes a TON (I normally use a 9x13 inch pan and also a 9x9 inch pan with a half batch). If you make a full batch of the dough, you will want to double the frosting recipe. I think that’s it! Sorry about your waistline expanding after eating these! :)

Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
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
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Melted Butter
¼ cups Brewed Coffee
⅛ teaspoons 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 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. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

Note: My rolls don’t work for me at 400 degrees anymore. I now bake them at 375 degrees.


Caramel Frosting

Ingredients:

1 stick Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ cups Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2-½ cups Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in the brown sugar and salt. Cook on low for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Let cool and then add the powdered sugar. Spread on the rolls once they have cooled off a little and enjoy!

History: The dough is from thepioneerwoman.com and the caramel frosting is from thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/.