Carrie’s Sweet Life

With the in-laws in town, I made a deal with Adam if he made breakfast Saturday I would make it Sunday. I decided to do quiche and cinnamon rolls. I have had these starred for awhile and decided this would be a perfect time to go. I thought these were very good.

Orange Cinnamon Rolls (From: Pioneer Woman)

Dough

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package Active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. “scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Ture off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active drive Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stire mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Add 1/2 cup flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and the salt. Stir mixture together. Refrigerate overnight.

Filling

• 8 T. orange marmalade
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup broke sugar
• 1/2 t. salt

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Spread the marmalade over the top. Pour on butter, then sprinkle on the brown sugar evenly. Sprinkle with salt.

Beginning at the long side farthest from you, roll the dough in a long roll towards you, being careful to keep it tucked tightly. Pinch the edge to seal it.

Cut rolls into 1 to 1 1/2 inch rolls and place them into butter pans. Allow to rise for at least 20 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Meanwhile make the glaze.

Orange Glaze

• 2 lbs. powdered sugar
• 6 T. melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• dash of salt

Mix all ingredients, thinning with more milk or orange juice to make mixture thin enough to be pourable.

When rolls are done cooking remove them from the oven and immediately drizzle orange glaze over the top.

Serve warm or at room temp.

Adam and I spent the night at my moms this past weekend, she offered to make a steak for dinner on Saturday evening, I asked her if I could bring anything and she said “Cinnamon rolls sound good if you want”… followed up by “hint hint”

So I took the bait and decided to try a new recipe for cinnamon rolls I knew I had to really wow her because she LOVES the cinnabons I made last time.

I had a lot of trouble with my dough rising they never rose like they were suppose too, the only time they rose was when they baked. This resulted in a very dense dough not the light and fluffy dough I was hoping for.

Everyone enjoyed these except me, I really didn’t think they were fantastic.

Alton Brown’s Overnight Cinnamon Rolls (From: Beantown Baker, Originally From: Food Network)

• 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 large whole egg, room temperature
• 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons
• 6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
• 20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
• 1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable oil or cooking spray

Filling:

• 8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 3/4-ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons

Icing:

• 2 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 5 1/2 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use. ***this part of the recipe confused me, i used the melted butter called for in the above list although it wasn’t mentioned here.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.

My little brothers reaction to the yummy breakfast.

I love biscuits and gravy but rarely make it, it just never comes to mind. When we had family staying the weekend I decided this would be a wonderful breakfast, and it turned out to be just that! I made the biscuits and Carmel rolls, Adam made the gravy, and my father-in-law made some American potatoes. It was a perfect Sunday brunch meal!

I rolled the biscuits a little to thin, so that’s why some are doubled up, but the flavor was wonderful!

And just because I have to rave… I think this is my best picture yet to date… What do you think? Are my photography skills getting better?

Southern Biscuits (From:Alton Brown)

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don’t want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that’s life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.