Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted Loosely from Morning Cinnamon Rolls, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, by Ree Dummond

DOUGH:
2 cups Milk
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Sugar
1 package Active Dry Yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoon of yeast
4 cups (Plus 1/2 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt

FILLING:
Stick of Butter (unsalted and softened)
1 cup (or more) Brown Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

FROSTING:
1/4 - 1/2 bag (.5-1 lb) Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Flavoring
1/4 cup Milk
1/8 cup Melted Butter
Shot of Espresso or 1/8 cup strong coffee
pinch of Salt

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture while stirring(heat until just before the boiling point -or- right when you see little bubbles start to form around the outside of the pan before boiling).

Turn off heat and leave to cool for 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in Active Dry Yeast. If the mixture is too hot and you add the yeast you will kill it! Make sure you wait the full hour. Let this sit for a minute.

Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour. After rising, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together.

At this point, you could make the rolls or cover the dough with a towel and put it in the fridge until you need it –overnight or even a day or two - just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down.

To make the rolls:
Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape.

Smear butter over the dough. Now sprinkle brown sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon (more the better). Roll the dough in a neat line. Keep the roll tight but not too tight otherwise the middle of the rolls will peak when baking. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Grease/Spray 3 round cake pans. Then cut the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and lay them in the pans (about 9 per pan). Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. Taste and adjust as needed. Drizzle over the warm rolls.

I prefer to make the rolls the night before. Cover the pans and put in the fridge overnight.


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