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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Cinnamon Rolls






The weather in Melbourne has been really humid and a bit yucky the past few days. Non-stop rain. I'm sure those who live here in Australia have all heard about the flood in Brisbane. Please keep Brisbane in prayer and pray that the rain will clear away soon. For those who are living there, I pray for strength and comfort during this difficult time. It's quite a shock to the whole nation at this stage to have this flood happening but I'm sure everyone's keeping Brisbane in prayer and the sun will surely shine again after the storm.

Back to this post, I believe that if one person would claim her recipe to be the best, that will be HER. Ree, from the pioneer woman. What a genius! I tried her cinnamon rolls recipe and oh wow, they did take me up to cloud 9. It was the easiest bread I have ever made, and they were so tasty and soft. I was just so amazed I could make cinnamon rolls so easily, without using up my biceps and triceps much at all and yet the result was phenomenal.

I love this recipe. I sure am going to keep making them in the future. My husband and brother in law love them too. The only advise I'll give is to make sure you put the pre-baked rolls into a tight fitting pan, like a square pan or round pan. I put some of them on baking tray, and instead of proofing upwards, they proofed sideways. So the buns did end up flat and a little bit dry. The other batch where I put the rolls in a square pan, proofed so well and I guarantee you they were oh so soft and nice. It was not the dough's fault. It was my fault for not putting them in the correct pan. So choose a pan where you can JUST fit the rolls in, of course giving a bit of space in between the pre-baked rolls to have their final proof. When they have their final proof they'll start sticking to each other and proof upwards. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say, I do have the tendency to be unclear sometimes...=)

Instead of making the maple flavoured icing as per her recipe, because I didn't get to buy maple flavouring, I made lemon-flavoured icing. The result was still satisfying. Oh yea, I halved the recipe as well. The full recipe probably yields around 60 cinnamon rolls, don't think my family can finish that much of cinnamon rolls. So half recipe yielded around 30 rolls. Still a lot but trust me, it's just enough for a family of 3-4 coz they're that good.

You can visit Ree's page for step-by-step instructions which are really helpful. I suggest that you have a look at the step-by-step instructions first actually.


The Best and Easiest Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Adapted from the pioneer woman's recipe

Ingredients:
for the dough:

  • 2 Cups whole milk
  • 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 Cup sugar
  • 3/4 tbsp instant yeast
  • 4 Cups flour
  • Extra, 1/2 Cups flour
  • 1/2 heaping tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 scant tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tbsp salt

Filling:

  • 1 Cup melted butter
  • 1 Cup sugar
  • 1/2 Cup cinnamon (or more depending on preference) or chocolate chips ( I made a different batch with chocolate chips. I prefer the cinnamon ones)

Frosting:

  • 1/2 bag Powdered Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 cups Milk
  • 1/8 cups Melted Butter
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • pinch of Salt

Methods:

  1. 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 instant yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
  2. After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 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 – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down. I just let it rise for another hour and the result was beautiful)
  3. When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
  4. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin 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. Finish up the other half of the dough in a similar way.
  5. 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.
  6. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees farenheit 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.

Tips:

  • The photo below showed the ones I put in the wrong pan. See how they're quite flat in comparison to other batch on top left corner of my first photo where I put in a square pan? So yea, put the rolls in the correct pan.

  • I used instant yeast for this recipe. If you want to use active dry yeast, then just use 1tablespoon of active dry yeast. The proportion for instant:active yeast is approximately = 0.75 : 1. So 1 tablespoon active dry yeast = 3/4 tablespoon instant yeast.

Make these rolls! You won't regret it. Takes no time to prepare, and I assure you you can even get your ironing done while waiting for the dough to rise. =)





16 comments:

j3ss kitch3n said...

i love Ree recipes too! your rolls looks absolutely smashing!

Wendy @ Obesebaby said...

Tats amazing. looks like bakery quality

lena said...

these look good, i'm sure they taste fabulous since they put you on cloud 9, haha!!

dinewithleny said...

@jess: Thank you...yea her recipes are really good. you should try making this too. very easy to make.


@Wendy: Hi Wendy, thank you so much for the comment. Thanks for dropping by.

@lena: hahahah...ya they definitely took me up to cloud 9 and even higher....=)

Hui said...

Lennyyy more pictures please! They look so good! Maybe pictures of steps in between also? For your next posts lah.

Ruth said...

Ahhh... these look so yum. Definitely one to take on my travels. Loving your work, my friend. The blog was a great idea - now i can take you overseas & all the recipes with me.

Anna's Table said...

Leny, I was just reading about all the devastation from the flooding in Brisbane. Our prayers are with you all. I hope you and your family are safe.

dinewithleny said...

@hui: hahaha...yea next time I will try.

@Ruth: Hi Ruth, thank you. Where are you heading next?

@Anna's Table: Thanks Anna. Thankfully the place I stay is not affected currently. Just praying that the rain will stop soon.

My Little Space said...

Leny, I am loving cinnamon rolls! You just tempted me to make more bread. lol! haha... Hope you're having a wonderful day.
Cheers, Kristy
p/s I'm so sorry about what is going on in Brisbane! Do you have any friends or relatives over there?

dinewithleny said...

Hi Kristy,

Yea I have a friend there but she's at a safe place now so that's good. Thankfully Victoria is okay so far and my family in sydney is fine as well. Hope you enjoy making the cinnamon rolls.

Jun said...

I love collecting cinnamon rolls recipes. I have made them so many times that my family is kinda sick of them. I am yet to try Ree's. Yours look really really delicious! Great space you got here. Keep up the good work, Leny!

Jean said...

lovely rolls, and thanks for the additional tips on how to make them proof beautifully :)

terri@adailyobsession said...

looks as good as the amazing cinnamon buns i ate in LA :D. will try this, thnx!

dinewithleny said...

@jun: thanks jun. thanks for dropping by, am a big follower of ur blog too

@ jean: you should try this recipe jean. easy n yummy

@ terri: wow thanks for such a nice compliment. let me know how u go when u try making it.

Ruth P said...

Leny... next stop is Thailand for a year.. .just under 4 weeks to go!! So I will definitely keep checking the recipes (saves all the books I'd have to take with me!).. might not see you before I go.

Anonymous said...

Cinnamon rolls are so comforting. Even just by looking at them!

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