They were fairly easy, and I made them for holiday gifts for friends last year but be warned... they make a TON. So if you aren't planning on giving them away, you will find yourself in the presence of 7-8 tins of cinnamon rolls. This may be hazardous to your health.
The recipe is below and you can find it here on the pioneer woman's website.
Ingredients
1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast (Note: if you don't use yeast a lot, remember to bring it to room temperature if you have been storing it in the fridge. I always forget this and my yeast never grows)
8 cups (plus 1 cup extra, separated from the rest) All Purpose Flour
1 tsp (heaping) Baking Powder
1 tsp (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tb (heaping) Salt
Melted Butter (LOTS AND LOTS)
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinklings of Cinnamon
Maple Frosting
1 Bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Melted Butter
1/4 cups Brewed Coffee
1/8 tsp 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 the mixture together. Cover and let rise for an hour. Note: If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Too cool and it won't activate. I suck at this.
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 - over night or even a day or two. Just keep an eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the bowl, just punch it down. So violent, I love it.)
When you are ready to make the rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half of the dough and form a rough rectangle. 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.
That looks AWESOME.
Now starting at the opposite end, being 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. I started off by cutting them too thin. This makes a difference and you get puny, wimpy looking cinnamon rolls. An inch thick or even a little more makes them thick, luscious hearty rolls.
Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. 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.
I used disposable round cake tins and found that they were a perfect fit for these.
These truly are the most delicious, ridiculous cinnamon rolls I've ever had. Hot, cold, whatever... they are awesome. But making them?
Hazardous to your kitchen as well.
