Do I have your attention?

Last night’s baking fail was ultimately trumped by this afternoon’s success at making The Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls!!! Like I said… Butter! Sugar! Cinnamon! Icing! Wheee! (clearly I’ve had too much of all of the above!)

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This recipe is one of The Pioneer Woman’s classics, that she swears up and down by. I’ve been dying to give baking with yeast another try and this recipe seemed like the perfect one to do just that.

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I started by scalding (heating until just barely boiling) milk, vegetable oil & sugar in a large saucepan.

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Notice my first failed attempt at making this recipe in the background…

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Mmm yeah… I…don’t know what happened…I just…AHH! They never rose!

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Anyway, after the milk mixture scalds, let it cool down to a hot but not too hot temperature (real specific, huh?) then sprinkle in some yeast.

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The yeast packet says to let the liquid cool down to 110 degrees before adding it, but other sources say add it at 140 degrees. My gut says add the yeast when the liquid is just a wee bit hotter than hot tub temperature. 

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I think that was the problem with my first batch – I was la-di-da’ing around the house and let the milk mixture get too cool – therefore the yeast couldn’t do its thang. Today I stayed on top of it and added my yeast at just the right time!

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Let the yeast sit for a couple minutes, then add flour and stir to combine.

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The dough needs to rise in a warm place for an hour at this point, so I put the saucepan on the stovetop with the oven set to 300 degrees. Perfectly toasty.

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He is risen!

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Next add more flour along with salt, baking soda and baking powder.

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Combine, put a lid on the pan and pop it in the fridge. That’s also something I didn’t do the first time and the dough was just a hot mess. Refrigerating it made it SO much easier to roll out.

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Which is what we do next! Flour a biiig board, or flat countertop if your home’s previous owners were smart enough to not install white tile countertops…

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I rolled my dough to about 1/8 inch thick, but you can do go to whatever thickness you want. The recipe for these cinnamon rolls isn’t too precise, which I just love.

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On goes the butter. Ohhh, the butter!!!!!

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I think the PW herself said it best… “My approach is to add butter until I think there’s enough, then add more. If I roll up the long roll of dough and butter does not violently ooze out of it, I believe I have not used enough butter.” Amen! :D

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Then a generous sprinkling of sugar,

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and cinnamon.

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Then we roll!

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Tightly and towards you.

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Pinch the seam to make sure none of that luscious, buttery-sweet filling escapes.

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Finally, fill a glass with hot water and warm a knife in it. Cut the rolls 1 inch thick, dipping the knife in the water between each and every cut, wiping it off with a paper towel. Trust me – don’t try and skip the dunk, warm & wipe step!

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Aren’t they puuuurty?!

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Much better than the first time! :D

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Throw the rolls back onto the stovetop with the oven turned to 300 degrees and let them rise for about another hour.

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Then CLEAN! There’s going to be a lot of butter & sugar on your countertops. ;)

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Success!

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This time they friggin’ rose – thank Heavens!

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A quick 13 minutes in a 350 degree oven, and, we’ve got cinnamon rolls!

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Real, honest to goodness cinnamon rolls…in my kitchen!

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Whip up some Maple Cinnamon Icing…

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and you’ve got ICED Cinnamon Rolls!!!!

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No words!

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Flaky, indescribably (perfectly) sweet and cinnamony. GET YOUR MILK READY!!!!

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Unraveled and eaten fresh out of the oven while pic messaging the good news to my husband.

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He almost left work “sick”. ;)

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Here’s the recipe – I quartered it and am going to freeze half the pan so I can enjoy these bad boys at a moment’s notice. MUWAHAHAHAHA!

Oh yeah – get your milk ready and also get a treadmill warmed up – I followed two of these up with a 5 mile jog. WORTH IT!