Pioneer Woman Test Kitchen ::: Cinnamon Rolls

If you have ever read the PW's blog or even heard of her, the first thing (at least for me) that I think of is her cinnamon rolls. They have been on my list to try for months, but it took being snowed in this weekend to actually put the wheels in motion to get them made.

In a word: unbelieveable.

In many words: I really think the key to her cinnamon rolls in her icing. It has maple flavoring in it, with just the tiniest taste of coffee. It kind-of makes you go a little bit nuts once you taste it. And it is incredibly sweet. I only ate one and didn't have any desire for a second one - I hit my sugar limit!

Noelle asked to eat her cinnamon roll without icing and she pronounced it delicious and better than the ones that I normally make from the can. (Ha!) Travis thought they could have been cooked a little bit longer and I agree with them. They were done, but they were a little more dough-y than a perfect batch would be. I left the second batch I baked in a few minutes longer and we'll see how those turn out after we break into them.

This recipe makes a HUGE amount. I was able to fill one 9x13 pan and three additional pie pans with rolls. We polished off one pie pan this morning, leaving me the three other pans to pop in the freezer. I'm going to take the 9x13 to Bible study on Thursday so we'll see how well they heat up after being completely cooked and frozen.

A few miscellaneous thoughts after this experiment:

• These are definitely do-overs. Super, super yummy, and I think they will just get better with the more practice that I have making them.
• I need to try something a little different the next time with the rising process. I put my batch of dough in what I thought was a good spot for it to rise the first time, and I think it was too warm. The dough didn't rise well at all, but that didn't seem to cause a problem with the rolls in the end. After all the ingredients I had used, I just pressed on and hoped they would turn out because I didn't want to waste the dough. And it worked!
• This makes a HUGE mess in my little kitchen. I was constantly washing as I was preparing these and I still had stuff strewn everywhere in my kitchen.
• This is not the recipe to throw together at the last minute and without ample time to prepare it. I might even try making it in two stages next time - dough the night before, letting it rise in the fridge overnight and completing it the next morning. It is a super easy recipe, it just takes a while.

Recipe #2 from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook is another keeper. You can find the recipe for her cinnamon rolls on her blog. Next up, her meatloaf (a cookbook exclusive) and her grilled rib-eye steak with onion-blue cheese sauce. Yum!