Bake This! Cinnamon Rolls!

You can do this!

I love cinnamon rolls.  I don't know how anyone can walk by a Cinnabon and not buy one.  After doctor imposed diet restrictions during my first pregnancy (aren't you supposed to eat for two???), super kind friends and family brought Cinnabons by the dozen to the hospital.  It was like Christmas.

I had drooled over and over The Pioneer Woman's (Ree Drummond) famous cinnamon rolls, but I tend to stay away from recipes that either involve 1. chilling dough or 2. yeast.  But I was feeling ambitious one day and decided to give it a try.  Here is the Pioneer Woman's recipe.  It makes about 50 cinnamon rolls which I decided was too much in case I failed miserably.  I put my math skills to work and cut the recipe in thirds.  I ended up with 18 cinnamon rolls (some bigger than others).  

First, I stirred together 1 1/3 cups whole milk, 1/3 cup vegetable oil and 1/3 cup of sugar in a pot over medium high heat.  Right before it boils, remove from heat and let it cool for at least 45 minutes. 

Wise words:  Keep calm and bake on!

Here's where I did some guestimating.  After several conversions, I ended up putting in 1.5 teaspoons of yeast, which turned out to be the contents of one packet and not the approximate 2.25 teaspoons it said on the package.  Let the yeast sit about a minute.   

Add 2 2/3 cups of flour.  Don't run out of room like me. 

I transferred the contents into a larger bowl and mixed it together. 

I covered with a paper towel and let it sit for about an hour. 

Here's my risen dough!

I mixed in 1/3 cup of flour, 1/3 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, a little less than a full 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/3 heaping tablespoon of salt.  I didn't have a 1/3 measuring teaspoon so I did more guestimating using 1/4 teaspoon. 

I rolled my dough out on parchment paper for ease of cleanup.  Roll into a rectangular shape.

Spread 1/2 cup of melted butter.  Oh yeah!  Follow with 1/3 cup of sugar. 
 

Don't be shy with the cinnamon! 

   

I'm not sure what happened here but I have no pictures.  I must have been in the zone.  But after you are done with the cinnamon, grab the top of the dough (furthest from you) and start rolling it toward you.  Try to keep it tight.  It got a little messy for me.  Pinch the seam to seal up the roll.

I cut the rolls about 1 - 1.5 inches thick and put them in a pan that was covered with about 1 teaspoon melted butter.  Let these babies sit for about 30 minutes to rise.    

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-18 minutes until they are light golden brown.  I thought it was 18-20 minutes so mine are a darker golden brown. 

While they are baking, mix up the icing.  Here's where things went a little funky.  I ran out of powdered sugar and had no maple extract or coffee.  So basically, I created an icing with milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.  You can't really go wrong with that.

One mistake I realized I did was when I calculated the measurements for the butter and sugar to spread on top of the dough, it was based on half of the Pioneer Woman's recipe so mine came out not as sweet.  Don't get me wrong, it was still very sweet, buttery, and yummy.  I'm calling it a low-cal version. 

Although time consuming, this recipe was easy to follow and I think if I make it again, I will make the whole recipe and bake in round tins and present as gifts as suggested by the Pioneer Woman.  Who wouldn't love a gift like that?  :)  Happy Baking!