Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I probably think that these are the best cinnamon rolls that I have ever had! I made these with my friend, that I do the dinner club thing with, and we froze them. We made up the dough, let it rise, rolled it out and put the butter, sugar and cinnamon, rolled them back up, gave them a quick slice. We then put them in our pan and stuck them in the freezer. I had no idea if they would turn out or not. I pulled them out of the freezer about an hour before I was going to bake them. They thawed out in this hour and had just started to rise some more when I put them in the oven for their 15 minute bake. They puffed up perfectly! I had 20 of them in my pan and every one of them were eaten! I will now have them in my freezer at all times!!

One of the things that I really liked about this recipe was that 1.)it was simple and 2) this recipe makes a ton of them! The only thing I changed on this recipe was the maple glaze. I just went with the standard vanilla glaze, I am thinking a cream cheese glaze next time will be in order!

With The Pioneer Woman's book just coming out, this was the perfect time to try these out. The only thing that I have seen on her book is that it is wonderful! I'm thinking that I am going to have to bring one home to be part of the family! :)

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

1 quart of whole milk
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8+1 cups of all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 "scant" tsp baking soda
1 heaping Tbsp of salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups melted butter
1 cup of sugar
generous sprinkling of cinnamon

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.

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 splurge out of the pan, just punch it down.)

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 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 to the roll to seal it. Spread 1 Tbsp of melted butter in seven round, foil cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them int he buttered pans. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20-30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

Maple Frosting

1 bag of powdered sugar
2 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup brewed coffee
1/8 tsp 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. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting! :)

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Let me start this off by saying that this will be the easiest, quickest, yummiest dessert that you will ever make! My MIL, Terry, made this for dessert one night after dinner and I had to have the recipe. Now, we all know that we will make only from scratch whenever we can, but ladies, sometimes we need the convenience of a box mix. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. We all need little short cuts here and there.

If you love cinnamon rolls, you are gonna love this cake. Tastes just like them, only in cake form. You could even make the glaze into a cream cheese glaze, or an orange glaze...whatever glaze you like really, it can only get better.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Yellow Cake Mix
4 eggs
¾ cup oil
1 cup sour cream

Mix by hand and pour in 13 x 9 greased baking pan.

1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
Mix and pour over cake batter. Swirl into batter with knife.

Bake @ 325 for 40 minutes. Let cake cool 10 – 15 minutes before icing.

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tbsp milk

Pour over warm cake.

Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have always been fascinated on how the Amish live, and want to some day, very soon, take a road trip and visit the Amish country. A couple of weeks ago, I went to our used book store with a friend, and came across this book, The Amish Cook at Home and glanced through it. I normally would never even give this type of a book a second glance, but I guess it was just fate, because when I opened the book, I couldn't put it down! It was a good thing that there were 2 of these books, or I believe that my friend Amanda and I would be fighting it out right there in the middle of the store! :) This book gives little stories and insight to their beliefs and way of life...and of course, their cooking! This is where the sourdough comes in. I have tried starters before and they didn't work, so I tried this one and it turned out nicely!

Sourdough Starter

3 packages active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)

Starter Feed
3/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP instant potatoes
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)

To make the starter: Mix the yeast and warm water in a small bowl. Put into a plastic container, seal, and refrigerate 3 to 5 days.

To make the starter feed: Combine the sugar, potatoes, and water in a small bowl and stir into the starter. Cover loosely (to allow some of the pressure to escape as the gases build) and let stand at room temperature for 5 to 12 hours. The mixture will be bubbly.

Take out 1 cup to make bread and loosely cover the starter and return it to the refrigerator. Feed again after 3 to 5 days. If not making bread after feeding the starter, throw away 1 cup to avoid depleting the starter. Note: Do not put the lid on tight.

To make the cinnamon rolls:
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F)
6 cups bread flour
1 cup Sourdough starter

6 Tbsp margarine, or butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine the sugar, oil, salt, water, flour, and starter in a large bowl. Stir to make a dough. Form the dough into a ball. Grease another large bowl. Put the dough in and turn to coat. Cover and let stand overnight. (Do not refrigerate.)

After the dough has risen overnight, punch it down, divide it in half, and form two balls of dough. Take a ball of dough and roll it out as thin as possible on a floured surface. Brush the dough with half of the butter. (I found this was easier to spread with your fingers.) Sprinkle half of the brown sugar evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with half of the cinnamon.

Roll up the dough like a jelly roll. Cut each roll into slices 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Place the slices 1/2 inch apart in a buttered jelly roll pan, cover. Repeat with the remaining ball of dough and remaining butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Let rise for 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly while making the icing:

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz Cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2-4 Tbsp milk

Cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Add the milk, 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency.

Drizzle over the warm rolls.

This recipe made two 9x13 inch pans.