PW's Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are the traditional Christmas morning breakfast in our family, but the maker of the cinnamon rolls (one of my aunts), moved out of state. We were left cinnamon roll-less, so I decided to make Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. And I'm in love! I cut the recipe in half, which made 4 pans of rolls. Hubby took one to work and his fellow deputies scarfed these instead of the stereotypical donuts. In fact, one of them, a self-proclaimed cinnamon roll connoisseur, raved about these rolls and requested another pan, just for himself, for his birthday next month. I love feeding those guys-they are so easy to please! Pioneer Woman warns her readers that declarations of love have occurred when people make these rolls, so it's a good thing I'm already married!

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

*From Pioneer Woman

**This is the original recipe, which I cut in half.

1 quart whole milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 packages active dry yeast

8 cups (plus 1 extra cup, separated) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon (heaping) baking powder

1 teaspoon (scant) baking soda

1 tablespoon (heaping) salt

Plenty of melted butter (*next time I will just use softened butter because melted=mess)

2 cups sugar

Generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Maple frosting:

1 bag powdered sugar

2 teaspoons maple flavoring

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup brewed coffee

1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat to just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and allow to cool for 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 flour. Stir mixture together, cover and let rise for at least an hour.

*You could also use a bread machine for this part. Just add wet ingredients, dry ingredients, and yeast in that order and use the dough setting.

After rising for at least an hour, add one more cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir mixture together. (At this point you could cover and refrigerate the dough until you need it-overnight or a day or two. Just watch it to make sure it doesn't overflow the pan. If it starts to, just punch it back down.)

When you're ready to prepare the rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rectangle. Roll the dough thin, while maintaining a general rectangle shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter then sprinkle 1 cup of sugar and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon over the dough.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough toward you in a neat line. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seam it.

Spread 1 tablespoon melted butter in a 7-inch round foil cake or pie pan. Begin cutting the rolls 3/4 to 1 inch thick and arrange in the butter pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20-30 minutes, then bake at 375º for 15-18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all frosting ingredients and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Enjoy!

*If you want to store some of the pans, cool and cover tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with foil and freeze.