The Garlic Press

This weekend was the first one in a long time that I have had two days off in a row. Lately, the weekends have been busy with my second job. I am happy to say that there are no more retreats at the camp that I work with until spring. That means that I don’t have to cook for anyone else other than me, unless I want to. It isn’t that I don’t like cooking for 100-150 middle school aged children (heh!), it can just be tiring after teaching all week long.

I took this opportunity to make cinnamon rolls for my sweet husband. They are one of his very favorite things (besides cookies and those awful, yet addictive, Hostess chocolate covered Donettes). A couple years ago I was watching the food network and they were featuring favorite family recipes, or something like that. There was a family that reminisced about Grandma’s Cinnamon Rolls and they even had her make them on the show. I must admit, they looked like the most delicious cinnamon rolls ever, so I printed off the recipe and gave it a try.

The first time I made it, I wasn’t disappointed. They were delicious! However, some of the filling slid down to the bottom of the cinnamon roll and made a very, very caramelized cinnamon goo at the bottom. So they were kind of like caramel cinnamon rolls, which was different than the show and different than I imagined. So, I played around with the recipe and tried several different ways of making them. This is what I came up with. They are pretty sweet, so make sure you have a lot of cold milk on hand!

 

 

Cinnamon Rolls

 

Adapted from a recipe by Laura Jeffries

2 packages rapid rise yeast

1/2 cup warm water (between 105 F and 110 F)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup milk (warmed, but not hot)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 cups flour

Filling

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1/4 cup granular sugar

2-3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon butter flavor extract

Dissolve 2 packages of yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water (not too hot or the yeast can die), and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit.

Melt the 1/2 cup butter and combine with 3/4 cups of warm milk. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook or a food processor with a dough blade, mix the dissolved yeast and butter/milk mixture on low. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar, then 1 egg. Add salt and 2 cups of flour on low, blend until smooth. Slowly add 1/2 cup at a time, the other 2 – 2 1/2 cups of flour until it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl and makes a ball on the dough hook. .

If using the dough hook, you can knead the dough in the mixer for 1 -2 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. Place in a draft free place and let it rise until it is doubled in size, about 45 minutes. (I like to use my unheated oven)

While the dough is rising, cream together the filling ingredients until just blended.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured counter. Roll out into a 12 x 24 inch rectangle (not too thin). Spread the filling over the dough all the way out to the edges. Roll the dough up tightly and cut into thumb width slices or 1 1/2 inch slices (or whatever size you like).

Place the rolls in a 4 cake pans. Cover with more greased plastic wrap and return them to their draft free rising environment. Let them rise until at least doubled in height, or a height that you prefer. Remove them from the oven, if that is where they were rising.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake them on the center rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes check them for doneness. They should be golden brown on top. If they are under-baked the filling will be grainy, so be sure they are done.

While they are cooling, mix up the glaze ingredients. Add more or less milk to get the desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls and serve warm with a glass of cold milk!