PW's Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe source:  thepioneerwoman.com/cooking

Here's Pioneer Woman's recipe for cinnamon rolls.  I thought they were delicious.  I have another recipe that I love, too, but I will not deny that these were awesome!  I loved the maple flavored frosting.  I also love cream cheese frosting on cinnamon rolls, so I guess I'll have to alternate. :-)  The only thing I would do differently with these is make them bigger.  I think I rolled out the dough too much and so the rolls themselves were small.  But then I guess you can eat more of them, right? 

I made these rolls for a special breakfast for Russell on Father's day.  Since I didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night to start said breakfast, I discovered the fridge and freezer methods.  This is so nice, because I halved PW's recipe, and it still made a lot.  So now I've got a couple dozen cinnamon rolls in the freezer to have whenever we want without as much work! 

Here's what I learned:  Make the cinnamon rolls all the way up to where you roll the dough into a log and cut them into individual rolls.  Then if you are going to have the rolls the next morning, you can put the rolls into the pan they will be baked in (in PW's case, in the pan with the butter), cover them with saran wrap or a lightweight towel, and leave them in the fridge overnight.  The rolls will slowly rise overnight.  In the morning set them in a warm place for 30-60 minutes, then bake like normal. 

If you don't need to use all of the rolls, or if you'd like to make the rolls way ahead of time, after you cut the dough into individual rolls, lay them in a pan and freeze immediately.  Once they are frozen, stick 'em in a freezer ziploc bag, and keep them in the freezer till you need them.  When you are ready to use the rolls, place them in the pan you will bake them in and sit them on the counter overnight, covered with saran wrap or a lightweight towel.  Then bake them in the morning.  Voila!

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

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MAPLE FROSTING:
1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Melted Butter
¼ cups Brewed Coffee  (I left this out and used more butter or milk to replace it.)
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.