Only a few hours left of summer — year 2 starts tomorrow at 8AM and I’m not a happy camper. The past 2 months have been amazing: beyond beautiful weather, lots of hours by the pool, plenty of good times with friends, and a lot of red wine. I’ve also had a lot of time to bake, which allowed me to finally tackle this initially intimidating cinnamon roll recipe. Ryan bought me the Pioneer Woman Cookbook months ago, and has been begging me to make these ever since. They were definitely worth the wait…
These cook quite possibly be the most unhealthy thing I’ve made so far. And I say this even after making a NY style cheesecake last week (which I didn’t get any pictures of, sadly). Just like sugar-laden muffins and pancakes, I’m not sure why cinnamon buns were ever donned as breakfast food, but just roll with it. (Get it? Roll with it? Cinnamon roll? Ha maybe school will be good for me afterall…) I halved the recipe because there’s just no reason an apartment for 2 people should ever contain 50 cinnamon rolls. They make great gifts (we gave a pan to my parents) and can also be frozen, so don’t be shy about the quantity.
Yeast was a foreign ingredient to me prior to this recipe, and I was kind of nervous to see if I could successfully make dough rise. Turns out it couldn’t be easier and only involves a little mixing and waiting. So don’t be intimated like I was — buy some yeast and make these delicious, fluffy,and fat-free (riiiight) cinnamon rolls for your loved one. I’ve never seen Ryan devour anything I’ve made quite so fast, which meant less for me but my waistline was thankful.
Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls
Because there’s just no way I’d ever do her step-by-step pictures and descriptions justice, I’m going to send you over to PW for her very informative write-up: Cinnamon Rolls
I have been wanting to try this recipe for so long now! I haven’t ever heard a bad thing about then…and it makes 50?! Holy yum!!
I’ve been seeing PW cinnamon rolls pop up all over the place on people’s blogs. I have got to try this recipe soon. I absolutely love cinnamon rolls, my mom always makes them from scratch every Christams!
These look really good. The dough looks good, the icing looks good, the shape . . . you guessed it, looks good. You have inspired me to try to make a vegan cinnamon roll
these look so so heavenly…i’m just scared to make ALL of those rolls…i don’t think i have the self control not to eat half a pan ;)
I’m in love with The Pioneer Woman’s website. Everything she makes looks fantastic!
I’ve made a couple of variations of her recipes:
http://www.prettygoodfood.com
Your pictures are making my mouth water!
Ah, Ree never lets us down! I just made these this weekend and couldn’t be happier with them.
HI! Just ran across your blog and have fallen in love. :) A blog after my own heart. lol! Though I have one problem with this post… do you have a version of this recipe that doesn’t make enough for a small country? If you do, please, please let me know. This would make such a great Saturday morning breakfast. :)
http://jaeashley.blogspot.com/
Nelle
Nelle — you can totally just half the recipe, that’s what I ended up doing. And if you really want to, quarter it. But if I were you, I would just freeze your leftovers…you’ll be thankful you did!
Hey Erica! Did you use the same icing that Pioneer Woman did? Your icing doesn’t look as dark. And if that is just a plain icing recipe I would love to have it! Icing is my ultimate cooking challenge.
Thank you so much!!
How do you make the cinnamon rolls so so so so big? they look delish! yum! wish i was in the kitchen when you made those!
Looks sooo good!
haha, not to call you out or anything, but I like how the photos of the shot with all the rolls in the pan are missing one. I don’t blame you :) They look great.
Did you use the maple icing or just a normal icing? If you just used a normal one, could you post the recipe? Thanks!
Your icing looks a bit different… did you use the same recipe for icing or did you modify?
I used the icing listed above, the same one PW suggests, but for this batch I just didn’t use as much so it might look different
Thanks!! :D
you are my backing idol. you make the most amazing things ever!!! i hope that i’ll beas good as you one day!!! this recipe in particular was amazing, to say at the very least. i brought them in for an advisory thing and people were in love with them. they told me tat it was basically the best thing they’ve ever ate!! thanks for all the recipes!! i’m gonna go now and make your s’mores cookies!!!
Regarding freezing the rolls, when is the best time to put them in the freezer?
After they are baked?
Before the second rise?
Erica — January 4th, 2014 @ 2:54 am
According to Ree, these are her recommendations:
* You can freeze the rolls, unrisen, in the pan. Cover them tightly with both plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Then you’ll just need to remove them, allow them to thaw and rise, and continue the baking and icing process.
* You can freeze the rolls, baked but unfrosted. Later, you can thaw them out, warm them for just a few minutes in the oven, and ice them while warm.
* OR you can freeze the rolls completely iced and finished. Just allow them to cool, then cover with plastic wrap and foil. This is how I normally freeze them and they turn out just fine.