I felt like I needed to redeem myself from my last PW post, so here are her famous cinnamon rolls! If you have heard of The Pioneer Woman, it is probably because of her cinnamon rolls. She raves about them, well everyone does! Of course I had to try them myself. It was my first time trying homemade cinnamon rolls, or any kind of rolls for that matter. It was a little bit of work, but lots of fun, and well worth it! The maple icing had to be my favorite part though. Who would have thunk maple icing for cinnamon rolls?! PW that's who....gosh she's great isn't she?
Mix the milk, oil, and sugar in a pan and scald the mixture. I had to look this up on the internet because I really wasn't sure how to tell when it is scalded. Basically when it gets hot enough that tiny bubbles will pop up around the sides and it gets a little frothy on the sides. DO NOT let it boil. Once it scalds then set it aside to cool for 45 min to 1 hour.
Add your yeast to the cooled milk mixture and let it sit a minute. (*I was using instant yeast so I added the yeast after the flour was incorporated.) Then add your flour and stir together. It should look something like this. Cover it and let it raise an hour.
After an hour you add 1 more cup of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix this into the dough. You could put it in the fridge overnight at this point, which I did, so I could roll them out the next morning and have them for breakfast fast! You may need to punch them down.
Now for the fun part! I had so much fun with rolling them out, and sprinkling the good stuff on them, that I totally forgot to take pictures. In fact, I didn't take another picture until they were out of the oven. (sounds familiar doesn't it? :) I'll try to do better!) So if you would like to see beautiful step by step pictures visit her website here, you won't regret it.
These next steps would be fun for the kids to help with. My 2 year old sure enjoyed it!
Flour your surface and roll out half your dough. (It helps to form a rough rectangle before you roll it out). Drizzle your melted butter, sprinkle on your sugar and cinnamon. *I tried a little brown sugar as well as white sugar with mine, cause that's what my momma does! Roll it up lengthwise tightly and pinch the seam to seal it. Prepare your pans by pouring melted butter along the bottom. Cut the rolls about an inch thick and lay them in a pan, don't pack them in, leave a little room to raise and spread. Let them raise in the pan for about 20-30 minutes. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes!
While they were baking I made my icing. Just add your powdered sugar, maple flavoring, milk, butter, and salt. Stir until nice and smooth, thick but pourable. When they rolls are done, I let them set a few minutes then poured the frosting over the warm rolls. Don't be afraid to frost generously!
I took these to a brunch with some friends and they were a hit. They were gone so fast and I got lots of "oohs and mmmms!"
PW's Cinnamon Maple Rolls
Makes A LOT, I halved this recipe below and I got 2 full 9x13 pans. It was perfect.
DOUGH:
1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast *I only had instant yeast, and it was fine, just add it AFTER the flour is incorporated, instead of adding it to the milk mixture.
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
DOUGH TOPPINGS:
Plenty Of Melted Butter
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
*I used a little bit of brown sugar as well, but it is up to you!
MAPLE FROSTING:
1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Melted Butter
¼ cups Brewed Coffee *I omitted this step, and it still turned out fantastic in my opinion
⅛ teaspoons Salt
- 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. (if halving the recipe you don't need to half the dough, just roll out the whole thing). 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, *unless you halved the recipe. 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.
