Cinnamon Rolls

Are you thinking, 'Didn't I just see cinnamon rolls here?' Yes, you did.

 But my husband has been asking for cinnamon rolls lately.

Every time he sees the photo of Brock's cinnamon rolls on my computer, he says,

"Those cinnamon rolls look good!"

Since he's said it about a dozen times now--and he didn't get to have any of the ones Brock made earlier this month--I decided to make him some.

I didn't have any frozen bread dough like Brock used, but I did have some yeast and decided to use the recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, in honor of her upcoming new show on The Food Network!

The show premieres Saturday, August 27th at 11:30 am. I'm so excited!

I was surprised how easy these were to make! The recipe makes a lot, so I had a lot to give away--that seems to be right up my alley, doesn't it!

  Cinnamon Rolls Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 cup extra flour, separated
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 cups melted butter
1/4 cup ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups sugar

Measure 4 cups of milk into a large pan.

Add 1 cup vegetable oil and 1 cup sugar.

Scald the milk mixture.

Heat it until just before it boils, and remove from heat and let it cool for about an hour or so until it's lukewarm.

While the milk is cooling, measure the extra 1 cup of flour and add a heaping teaspoon of baking powder.

Add a scant teaspoon of baking soda.

And 1 tablespoon salt and set aside.

Measure 1/4 cup ground cinnamon.

Have the ingredients for the dough filling together, measured and ready.

This is the yeast I used.

You need two of the three packages--you buy it in threes.

When the milk is lukewarm--you should be able to touch it--add the yeast packages and let it sit for a minute or two.

Add the 8 cups of all-purpose flour and stir mixture until combined.

Cover dough with a clean dry kitchen towel and let the dough rise for at least an hour.

After the dough has risen, add the extra cup of flour with the salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Stir until well combined.

Butter the baking pans you'll be using with some of the melted butter.

I used two of these large casserole dishes plus three pie plates.

Divide the dough into four pieces and roll it out into a large rectangle.

Spread a generous layer of melted butter onto the rectangle.

Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

And sugar.

Starting with the long end away from you, roll the rectangle into a log, keeping it tight, then pinch the seam closed to seal the log.

Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces and lay into pans.

Leave some room around the cinnamon rolls, they've still got to rise.

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for 30 minutes before baking.

Bake at 375ºF for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.

A little bit browner than these would be perfect!

Now for the icing!

Ingredients:

1 lb. powdered sugar

1/4 cup whole milk

1/2 stick butter--4 tablespoons

3 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee

1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract

Mix all ingredients for the icing.

Adjust the amount of milk or powdered sugar (if it's too thin) to make it runny enough to be pourable.

I like the icing, but it is really sweet!

A thin drizzle on the cinnamon rolls is perfect.

This was a little too much icing for me.

Itadakimasu!




***

A big THANK YOU goes out to my niece Kelly for making FOODjimoto's new blog banner!

It tickles me to pieces when she tells me she makes some of the recipes!

This is Kelly's graduation picture.

She recently graduated from high school.

If you've been following along here, you may remember that Kelly likes sukiyaki.

She also loves mushrooms.

Sometimes Kelly models my boutique creations, like she is in the picture above, which was taken a few years ago.

That photo is one of my favorites.

This one is too.

When Kelly was this age she was chatty.

Really chatty.

Her chatty phase, which lasted for several years, was a favorite of mine.

She's not as chatty now as she was then, but she's still a lot of fun.

Kelly can text really fast.

She's also good at Touch the Numbers, an iPhone game.

Here's Kelly with her family.

My brother Gordon is on the left, then Leslie, Kelly, my sister-in-law Amy--and their dog Kira.

And here she is with her cousins at a recent family wedding.

Kelly's going to be attending UC Berkeley this fall.

Thanks to Kelly, FOODjimoto has a new banner!

Love you, Kelly!

***

Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 packages Active Dry Yeast

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

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

1 scant teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 cups melted butter

1/4 cup ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

Icing:

1 lb. powdered sugar

1/4 cup whole milk

1/2 stick butter--4 tablespoons

3 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee

1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract

Measure 4 cups of milk into a large pan. Add 1 cup vegetable oil and 1 cup sugar. Scald the milk mixture. Heat it until just before it boils, and remove from heat and let it cool for about an hour or so until it's lukewarm.

When the milk is lukewarm add the yeast packages and let it sit for a minute or two. Add the 8 cups of all-purpose flour and stir mixture until combined. Cover dough with a clean dry kitchen towel and let the dough rise for at least an hour. After the dough has risen, add the extra cup of flour with the salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir until well combined.

Butter the baking pans you'll be using with some of the melted butter.

Divide the dough into four pieces and roll it out into a large rectangle. Spread a generous layer of melted butter onto the rectangle. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and then sugar.

Starting with the long end away from you, roll the rectangle into a log, keeping it tight, then pinch the seam closed to seal the log. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces and lay into pans. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for 30 minutes before baking.

Bake at 375ºF for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.

Mix icing to a thin consistency that allows pouring, and drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

Red Velvet Cake

My niece Hayley is the baker in our family.

She bakes a cake for everyone's birthday.

The other day she came over and made Bachan's Cheese Macaroni with my mother-in-law.

We also made this Red Velvet Cake.

We decided to make this cake since she is The Baker in our family and she is thinking about moving on from the box cake mix she's been using for as long as she can remember.

 

We chose the Red Velvet Cake from The Pioneer Woman Cooks because we love Ree and are looking forward to her new show The Pioneer Woman on The Food Network!

I had so much fun cooking with Hayley!

I've mentioned before that my family calls her Beeto.

 

She got that nickname when she was maybe this young.

Or younger.

Her name is Hayley Emiko.

At first we called her Emiko--which shortened to Miko--which changed to Meeko-Beeto--which shortened to Beeto.

Back to the cake.

Here's a video of Hayley making the cake or scroll down for photo instructions.

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

1 ounce red food coloring

1  1/2 teaspoons cocoa powder

The Red Velvet Cake recipe is on The Pioneer Woman Cooks here.

 

Get your ingredients together, measure the shortening.

 

Measure and sift 2 1/2 cups cake flour and salt and set aside.

 

 Put the shortening into the mixer bowl.

 

Cream together the shortening and sugar.

 

Mix 1 cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, eggs, baking soda and vinegar.

Mix into the shortening/sugar mixture alternating with the flour and salt, adding a cup or so of each at a time until all combined.

 

In a separate bowl, mix the food coloring and cocoa powder.

 

Add the food coloring and the cocoa into the mixing bowl and mix until just combined.

 

Pour the batter into two round prepared cake pans, dividing evenly.

 

I think the next time we make this cake, we'll cut a waxed paper circle for the bottom of the pan.

 

Using only a cooking spray wasn't enough on these cake pans, the cake layers didn't come out of the pans easily.

 

Bake at 350ºF for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

Beeto loves icing.

She was so excited to be making the cream cheese icing!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 8-oz packages cream cheese at room temperature

3/4/ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

She LOVED the icing and couldn't wait to lick the bowl!

 

Beeto's fun to bake with.

The cake may have gotten a tad over-baked and was a little crumbly--especially since it didn't come out of the pan easily.

She said--If a little of the red crumbs get into the icing, it just adds to the charm of the cake!

She is my kind of girl!

 

Beeto loves her cake and ice cream!

No printable recipe, recipe found here.