Cinnamon Rolls

I have been looking for a good cinnamon roll recipe for some time now.  I wanted a challenge.  I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment.  Popping open a can of Pillsbury sweet rolls doesn't always give me that type of thrill.  They taste awesome!  But they don't invoke pride.  All calories, no pride.

I am always looking for ways push myself to try new things and up my game.  It is easy to do when you work outside the home, but I have found it slightly more difficult now that I spend my days devoted to taking care of my family.  I try and keep several projects going at all time to break up the everyday routine.  I find that I enjoy my life and my role better if I find things to challenge my skill set.
We all know that a happy wife = a happy life! 

I have always been very intimidated by homemade breads.  Working with yeast is like calling up the moodiest woman you can think of.  You never really know how it's all going to turn out in the end.  You may think you've done everything right, and then it results in a complete diaster.  Or you may think you have totally screwed up and it turns out great!  You just never know.  I don't like that.  I like knowing what I'm dealing with.  So in my baking I try and avoid all recipes that involve yeast, rising, kneading, waiting, and "unknown" factors. 

THEN I came across a recipe for Cinnamon Rolls.  I knew that I had to tackle my fear of the unknown.  They spoke to me, gave me courage to tackle yeast breads, inspired me, made my mouth water, made me unbutton my pants just reading about them, food speaks to me.  I love food.  I love preparing food.  I love sharing my creations with others.  It makes me happy.  Happy wife=happy life.

I read every tip I could find, looked through every single recipe for cinnamon rolls that exists, and am here to share what I've learned through my trials, errors, and sucesses.  This recipe is the combination of 1,500 different recipes plus a little of my own imagination. 

These cinnamon rolls will change your life.  You'll never be the same.  The dough boy ain't got nothing on me.  The recipe makes approx 50-60 rolls.  You can freeze them before you bake them, or after you bake them.  I bought several of the disposable tin pans and baked them, iced them, wrapped them up and stuck them in the freezer.  They take some work.  But it is worth every moment of your time. 

For the Bread-
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

For the Filling-

2 cups Sugar ( I use 1 cup of dark brown sugar and 1 cup of light brown sugar)

Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

2 sticks of melted butter (more if needed...embrace butter)

For the Icing-

1 bag Powdered Sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cups Milk

¼ cups Melted Butter

1 pkg cream cheese (softened)

Making the dough-

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 brown sugar mixture 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.



TIPS AND TRICKS-

1.  Don't burn the yeast!  If it is to hot to take a bath in, it's to hot to add the yeast.  LUKEWARM....not HOT. 

2. *When making the filling*  I love the taste of brown sugar and cinnamon.  If you don't then use white sugar and cinnamon instead of brown.  You can also add nuts and raisins to the filling too.  Be creative.

3.  Apply icing as soon as your rolls come out of the oven.  You want it to get into the creaks and crannies of the rolls.  Oooey gooey goodness.

4.  For a thicker icing add more powdered sugar.  For a thinner icing (aka glaze) add more milk.  I love cream cheese icings.  But, you can use vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk if you prefer a non cream cheese type icing.  Another yummy variation is using maple flavoring, and a dash of strong coffee to the sugar and milk mixture.  *see recipes below*

5.  Be prepared to make a mess.  Butter can be messy.  Embrace butter. 

6.  Freezer Friendly
* You can freeze the rolls, unrisen, in the pan. Cover them tightly with both plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Then you’ll just need to remove them, allow them to thaw and rise, and continue the baking and icing process.
* You can freeze the rolls, baked but unfrosted. Later, you can thaw them out, warm them for just a few minutes in the oven, and ice them while warm.
* OR you can freeze the rolls completely iced and finished. Just allow them to cool, then cover with plastic wrap and foil. This is my method of choice.  Works great!

7.  If you have trouble getting your dough to rise in a timely fashion turn on your oven light and put the dough into the oven with the door shut.  The heat from the oven light creates the perfect atmosphere for yeast to rise.  Please don't forget you have it in there and turn the oven on.  That would be bad.

I realize this is a lot of information at one time.  If you have any questions feel free to ask, I'm happy to help!
Make these and share them with all the wonderful people in your life. 

Regular Icing-
3cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
Stir together sugar and milk until smooth
Maple/Coffee Icing-

1 bag Powdered Sugar

2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring ½ cups Milk ¼ cups Melted Butter ¼ cups Brewed Coffee ⅛ teaspoons Salt
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.