Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

Have you tried these yet?  Oh my goodness!  If you haven't, set some time aside some weekend very soon to make them for someone you love.  These were requested by my 7 year old for his birthday, along with roasted chicken, bow tie pasta, homemade marinara (on the side), salad (dressing on the side), rosemary rolls and carrot cake.  But these were at the top of the list, although he didn't call them Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls.  He called them, "the rolls you made at Christmas".  I knew what he meant.  How could I forget?

They are out of her new cookbook and they are to die for.  I cut the recipe in half, because honestly, we don't need 40 to 50 huge sweet rolls in the house.  We don't need 20 to 25 either, but that is a moot point. 

To begin, take 2 cups of milk,

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

and 1/2 cup of sugar and heat it just until boiling.  Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm.  I'm not kidding here. COOL TO LUKEWARM!  Both times I've made these I hadn't cooled the liquid enough and have promptly killed my yeast, at which point I jump back up to step one and repeat.

When the liquid is at about 110 degrees, according to my candy thermometer, sprinkle 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast (or one package) on the top of the mixture and let sit for one minute.

Then add 4 cups of flour and stir.  Cover with a towel, put in a warm place and let rise for one hour. 

After an hour, or so, when it has doubled in bulk, add 1/2 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 scant teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 heaping tablespoon of salt

and an additional 1/2 cup of flour.   

Mix to combine.  Both times I've made these, I've done this the night before, covered it with a towel and let it sit overnight in a cool place so that it is ready to go when I wake up.  I punched the dough down when I went to bed

and in the morning, it has risen again, so I punched it down

and removed it from the pan to a lightly floured surface. 

Roll out the dough

until you have formed a 30 by 10 inch rectangle.

Now melt 1 cup of butter and spread it over the top of the dough with your fingers. That is a lot of butter!  If you don't use quite all the butter, don't worry.  You can use it to grease the pan you bake the rolls in.

Now sprinkle the dough with lots of cinamon

and top with lots of sugar (about a cup).

Begin rolling, starting at the opposite end, making a tight roll as you go.  When you get to the end, pinch the dough to close. 

PW says not to worry if some filling leaks out, so I didn't.

I took the remaining butter and used it to grease a jelly roll pan.

and then began slicing the roll into 1 1/4" sections.  The first ones weren't pretty but once I got in about 2 inches, they were beautiful.

Arrange the rolls on the baking sheet and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  You want to let the rolls sit and rise for at least 20 minutes, so cover them up with a towel so they don't dry out. When the oven is preheated, cook for about 15 minutes until lightly browned.

While they are baking, prepare the icing.  Add 1/4 cup of milk to 2 cups of powdered sugar.

Add a splash of coffee,

maple flavoring,

and 1/4 teaspoon of salt

along with 3 tablespoons of melted butter.

Whisk until smooth. 

When the rolls are done, remove from the oven

and douse them with icing.  Prepare to have your socks knocked off.  These are out of this world decadent.  You can find Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Roll recipe on
The Tasty Kitchen.  Enjoy!