Behold, my kitchen with flour on the counter, hanging cords & smudges of icing.
I love cinnamon rolls. The soft, sweet, sticky-bottomed kind. I found the perfect recipe for such rolls a few years back when I was learning about bread making. The original recipe (scroll down to the mouthwatering photos of chocolate cinnamon rolls) can be found here at The Fresh Loaf, an internet forum for homemade bread! An indispensable tool when you have any question what so ever.
I must also thank Smitten Kitchen for the endless inspiration that website has given me. Whenever I am looking for a recipe... whether I know what I want to make (Snickerdoodles) or just have an ingredient I want to use (Ricotta) I head to SK and search. There will be a hard cover recipe book to accompany this website soon that I am looking forward to.
One thing about SK that is out of my grasp is the studio-like kitchen. The photographs are absolutely amazing but, alas, my kitchen looks like that of a woman who has three young children and one is often in her arm while the other is stirring, washing, and sometimes chopping... ahem. So I have been practicing my photo skills but have quite a bit to learn (how to photograph food in my kitchen at night, for example), so bare with me as I get better... hopefully.
Sweet brunch: fresh rolls, French press, ice cold cream & a bowl of clementines.
Cinnamon Rolls
1pkg (2 1/2t) active dry yeast
1/2c lukewarm water
Combine these two ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2/3c butter
2t salt
2 eggs
1c mashed potatoes
1/2c milk
1/2c potato water (still warm)
4-6c AP flour
In bowl of stand mixer combine butter & salt with paddle attachment. Add eggs one at a time & beat in. Add yeast water, potatoes, milk, potato water to mixer and combine. Add 3-4c flour and mix well adding more to turn the mixture into a workable dough. (I find that i usually add a total of 5 1/2c flour.) Mix with dough hook for 10 minutes or so until dough is smooth & pliable. Remove bowl from stand mixer & cover. Let the dough rise for a few hours or until double. Punch down, cover and put it in the fridge overnight.
Next Day:
1 1/2c dark brown sugar
1T ground cinnamon
1/2c ground or chopped nuts
Mix together sugar, cinnamon & nuts. Set aside.
Take dough out of fridge and roll it onto a well floured surface into a rectangle approximately 30"x20". Brush dough with 4T melted butter. Pour sugar mixture on top and spread it around buttered dough leaving about 1/2-1 inch border around all edges without sugar. Carefully roll the sugared dough into a long log, taking care when dough sticks to the rolling surface. Using a long piece of string mark 16 rolls on the dough. Cut the rolls by sliding the string beneath the log and pulling the ends up, around the dough, crossing them on the top of the rolls. This will give you a clean cut that does not compress the rolls.
Plop the rolls into parchment lined & buttered pans. Use whatever pans you have. 8-9" square & round pans fit 4 rolls each, 13"x9" can fit up to 8.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until rolls are brown, make sure all parts of the rolls are brown.
While the rolls are baking prepare the frosting:
4oz softened cream cheese
2T butter
1/3 powdered sugar-sifted
1t vanilla
pinch of salt
Combine the cream cheese & butter in stand mixer bowl. Turn mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar & salt. Add vanilla about half way through the sugar. Mix until nice and smooth. If you like your icing softer you can always add a bit of milk.
Frost & serve the rolls while warm. Yum yum!
**After typing all that out it seems so complicated, but it is quite simple. The part I fuss around the kitchen most about is making mashed potatoes.**
1pkg (2 1/2t) active dry yeast
1/2c lukewarm water
Combine these two ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2/3c butter
2t salt
2 eggs
1c mashed potatoes
1/2c milk
1/2c potato water (still warm)
4-6c AP flour
In bowl of stand mixer combine butter & salt with paddle attachment. Add eggs one at a time & beat in. Add yeast water, potatoes, milk, potato water to mixer and combine. Add 3-4c flour and mix well adding more to turn the mixture into a workable dough. (I find that i usually add a total of 5 1/2c flour.) Mix with dough hook for 10 minutes or so until dough is smooth & pliable. Remove bowl from stand mixer & cover. Let the dough rise for a few hours or until double. Punch down, cover and put it in the fridge overnight.
Next Day:
1 1/2c dark brown sugar
1T ground cinnamon
1/2c ground or chopped nuts
Mix together sugar, cinnamon & nuts. Set aside.
Take dough out of fridge and roll it onto a well floured surface into a rectangle approximately 30"x20". Brush dough with 4T melted butter. Pour sugar mixture on top and spread it around buttered dough leaving about 1/2-1 inch border around all edges without sugar. Carefully roll the sugared dough into a long log, taking care when dough sticks to the rolling surface. Using a long piece of string mark 16 rolls on the dough. Cut the rolls by sliding the string beneath the log and pulling the ends up, around the dough, crossing them on the top of the rolls. This will give you a clean cut that does not compress the rolls.
Plop the rolls into parchment lined & buttered pans. Use whatever pans you have. 8-9" square & round pans fit 4 rolls each, 13"x9" can fit up to 8.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until rolls are brown, make sure all parts of the rolls are brown.
While the rolls are baking prepare the frosting:
4oz softened cream cheese
2T butter
1/3 powdered sugar-sifted
1t vanilla
pinch of salt
Combine the cream cheese & butter in stand mixer bowl. Turn mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar & salt. Add vanilla about half way through the sugar. Mix until nice and smooth. If you like your icing softer you can always add a bit of milk.
Frost & serve the rolls while warm. Yum yum!
**After typing all that out it seems so complicated, but it is quite simple. The part I fuss around the kitchen most about is making mashed potatoes.**
