Thursday, July 24, 2008

If you like cinnamon rolls, raise your hands!

Here is a recipe for my mom's cinnamon rolls, that I have improved upon. I made them special for the beach, and I am saving them to surprise my mommy with on our first morning at the coast. I used to make these with my mom when I was little every Sunday. We also made bread. I am not a great bread maker, to be honest, but cinnamon rolls I can do, and do well. If you do make these, make sure to have people to share with. I usually give half away, since no one should eat 12-15 cinnamon rolls by themselves, unless they are hoping to explode.

I gave my neighbor a few, I am also bringing some to Kerri and Jason (HI! See you soon!) and Paul and Sarah at the coast. Maybe, just maybe Kerri will share with Jason this time. Last time, I made them to eat after the 311 concert, when Kerri and Jason dropped us off at the house. Kerri took them for their breakfast in the morning, and while Jason was in the shower, she ate them both. She was pregnant with Ava, so she had an excuse. I always ate Jay's food when I was pregnant. He would take it with him if he got up to get something because I would chow down until he came back. Then stab him with my fork if he dared to try and steal with me. How dare he!

Before I start going off again, here is the recipe. I've included pictures, but not of the mixing of things at the beginning. I would hope you could figure it out, if not, email me and I'll explain as best as I can.

Cinnamon Rolls
  • 2 packets active dry yeast
  • 1/2 c. warm water
  • 1/2 c. scalded milk
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 c. soft butter
  • 4 1/2 c. sifted flour
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir softly until yeast is dissolved, then let sit for 5 minutes. The yeast should start to foam up a bit. Once the scalded milk has cooled enough to dip your finger in without burning yourself, add to the yeast mixture, along with the sugar, eggs, butter, and salt. Mix gently, then add 2 1/2 c. of the flour, stirring until smooth. I usually add an additional cup and then turn out onto a floured work surface to knead in the rest of the flour. The dough should be shiny and tacky.

Knead for 5 minutes. Grease a bowl and put dough in, butter the top of the dough, lightly cover with a tea towel and put in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until almost doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, you can do the funnest part (well next to eating it of course). You can punch the dough to release the air. Kenzie loves to do this. Now turn out the dough and roll it into a rectangle. Now it's time for the filling! YEAH!

Filling:
  • 1 stick soft butter
  • 1 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • 1 c. cinnamon
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 2 skinned and shredded apples, preferably something tart and sweet, like Granny Smith or Pink Ladies

Mix the sugars and cinnamon together.


Spread the butter out nicely on the dough, I use the back of a spoon. Do not skimp on the butter, this is one of the main things that keep your dough moist. I cannot stand dry cinnamon rolls. Gross! Now liberally spread out the sugar mixture, making sure to get all the way to the edges. Now sprinkle on the shredded apple. You can skip this step, or even replace them with mini chocolate chips, but I really think they add even more gooeyness and they definitely help with the dryness. You can't really tell they are there, but I can really tell when I don't put them in. Weird. Now you need to CAREFULLY roll this rectangle up. Make sure you are rolling it tightly, if it is too loosely done, the cinnamon roll with fall apart very easily.





Once it is rolled up, you can use a pairing knife to cut small slices into the dough in the size you want them to be. I usually go every inch to inch and a half. Don't slice all the way through yet. I like even numbers (it's an OCD thing) so I usually get 12-14 out of mine. Once you have them sized off, get yourself some floss or cooking twine. Put it under the roll, and wrap it around the roll until it is on the line you sliced, then pull. It will neatly cut the dough, without having any jagged edges.

Now get yourself a cake pan, I prefer a shiny metal one, and now you need to make the base sauce.

Cinnamon base
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. cinnamon
Melt butter in a saucepan, whisking in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Once melted, spread over the bottom of the cake pan. Now place the cinnamon rolls cut side down on top of the base. Don't pack them in too tight, they will expand. I usually go 3 to row, and maybe 4 across. Today I actually got 15 in the pan (I'm OK with odd numbers as long as it's a number that ends in 5, 15, 25, you get the gist).



Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Put a tea towel lightly over the rolls, put on top of the stove, and let rise for another 1/2 hour. Then put them in the oven for 30-35 minutes. I usually go the full 35 minutes because, even though the tops look perfect, underneath they need that 5 additional minutes.



Now it's time to mix up the icing.



Icing
  • 3/4 c. heavy whipping cream
  • about 1 and 1/2 to 2 c. powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 dashes cinnamon
The icing should be a little runny, but not too runny. Think of pudding before it is fully firm.

Once the rolls are done, get yourself a big tray or cookie sheet that is bigger than the cake pan. Put it on top and (using pot holders) flip it over. See how gooey gooey they get. Now I drizzle the icing on top.







And, ta-da, you just made cinnamon rolls. Good for you!

7 comments:

Cate Subrosa said...

Mmm they look so good I can almost smell them!

Amanda said...

I am drooling on my keyboard!

Jay Ferris said...

I feel sorry for the poor bastards that will never have these. Especially since I will be having at least six of these over the next week.

p.s. -- booyah

Anonymous said...

My mouth is salivating, and I can ALMOST smell them!

Anonymous said...

Holy fuck those look good. It would have never even occured to me to make cinnamon rolls. But, that's not saying much. I didn't know people actually made cakes without boxes until my boss made me one for my birthday. I was amazed.

I want a wife like you when I grow up.

Angel said...

OHMYGOD!!!! are you freakin kidding me???? I just gained 12 pounds just looking at those pictures!!! OHMYGOD!!! And why can't you eat 12 cinnamon rolls?...not that I ever would, of course...

captain corky said...

Wow those look good! My wife and I make them for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but we cheat and use Pillsbury. It's still a nice tradition though.