Perfect Cinnamon Rolls

KASHINA LINNE DO NOT DOUBLE THIS RECIPE!!! 

IT DOES NOT FIT IN YOUR BOSCH, HA HA!

INGREDIENTS

ROLLS:

 4 cups scalded milk 

 1 cup (2 sticks) butter

 1 cup sugar

 2 1/2 teaspoons salt

 1 3/4 tablespoons instant yeast *

 4 large eggs

 11-13 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

FILLING:

 1 cup (2 sticks) butter

 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar

 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

FROSTING:

 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

 2 teaspoon vanilla

 Pinch of salt

 2 pounds powdered sugar

 Cream or milk for consistency

INSTRUCTIONS

For the dough, heat the milk in a medium saucepan until the milk is scalded (which is basically heating it until right before it simmers - it will start steaming and little bubbles will form around the edge of the pan). Pour the milk into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or you can do this by hand with a large bowl, wooden spoon and lots of elbow grease).

Add the butter, sugar and salt. Mix until the butter is melted and let the mixture cool until warm but not hot.

Add the yeast and eggs and mix until combined.

Gradually add the flour until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. The exact amount will depend on the temperature, humidity and how you measure flour. I usually end up adding just under 13 cups of flour. The dough should be soft and just slightly sticky without leaving a lot of residue on your fingers. Let it knead for 2-3 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled.

Divide the dough in half. Roll each portion of dough (it's soft enough to be patted and stretched with your hands) into an 18-inch by 12-inch rectangle. Spread one stick of softened butter over each rectangle.

Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle half of it over each rectangle. Pat it in slightly with the palms of your hands. Starting with one long end, roll up the cinnamon rolls as tightly as possible, pinching the seam lightly to seal.

Working with one long log of cinnamon roll at a time, using a serrated knife, cut it in half. Then cut each half in half again (forming four equal portions). Cut each of the four portions into three rolls - twelve cinnamon rolls total. Repeat this with the other roll - you'll have 24 cinnamon rolls total.

Place the rolls evenly spaced on a parchment-lined large, rimmed baking sheet about 11X17-inches (or 12X18-inches). I space the rolls 3 across, 4 down. If the ends have come free, carefully tuck them under the cinnamon roll.

Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the rolls rise until double. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the rolls for about 18-22 minutes until only very slightly golden on top. Let the rolls cool almost completely in the pan before frosting.

For the frosting, in a large bowl, whip together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla, maple and salt and mix until combined.

Gradually add the powdered sugar (if you add it all at once, be prepared for a huge snowstorm in your kitchen) and mix until thick and creamy. Add cream or milk a tablespoon at a time until the frosting is smooth and spreadable to your liking.

Spread the cinnamon rolls with frosting.

To freeze, once the cinnamon rolls are completely cooled, use a spatula to carefully transfer a single cinnamon roll to a quart-sized ziploc bag. Seal the bag with as little air inside as possible and freeze for up to a month. To reheat, remove the roll from the bag (it's easier than it seems - it will pop right out!) and warm on a plate in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Start at 45 seconds 

NOTES

Milk: these rolls turn out better with whole milk 

*Yeast: also, if you don't have instant yeast and want to use active dry, up the amount to 2 1/2 tablespoons and dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup water with a pinch of sugar. If doing this, you'll need to add a bit more flour than if following the recipe using instant yeast.

Gingerbread 'Glue' Icing

3 Large Egg Whites
4 3/4 C Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter

In a large, clean bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tarter with an electric mixer at medium speed. Add powder sugar in small amounts, mixing well on high speed after each addition. Beat on high 4-5 minutes until mixture thickens. Refrigerate until ready to use. You may need to stir icing before you use it. 

Trevino's Cinnamon Rolls/Orange Rolls/Sicky Buns

These are good, light and fluffy. I am still perfecting on getting them right, but they taste amazing!

Dough (Annie and I half it, I'll put those in red)

3 (1 1/2) TBsp Yeast
1 1/2 (3/4) C Warm Water (110)
1 TB Sugar (for the yeast to rise)

1 2/3 (1/2 + 1/3) C Sugar
1 1/2 (3\4) C Shortening (use half butter half shortening for a richer dough)
5 (2 and an egg white)  Eggs
2 (1) tsp Salt
4 (2) Cups of Warm Milk (110)
11-12 (5-6) Cups of Flour

Filling for Cinnamon Rolls:
1 1/2 C Soft Butter
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar

Filling for Orange Rolls:
1 1/2 C Soft Butter
Granulated Sugar
Orange Zest (I used the zest from 3 small oranges and could have used more... but I love the Orange Flavor

In Bosch with dough attachment add water, yeast, and sugar. Let double in size. Add remaining ingredients and mix for about 3 minutes...it will be sticky, and wont pull from the sides like regular dough, so don't over flour it. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until double in size. (the covered with plastic wrap is necessary, the dough needs a humid place to rise). Place on table, cut in half, roll into a rectangle, cover with filling and roll. Cut into 2 inch slices and place on a greased sheet pan. (My first batch I cut into 1 inch slices, thinking I would have more cinnamon rolls, and although they were good, they weren't thick enough, my second time making them I cut them into 3 inch rolls, and they exploded over the top, ha ha! Keep them in 2 inch slices) Cover again with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. Bake at 400 degrees until golden in color and dough is thoroughly cooked. Approx 20 minutes. (You can use the Annie trick of covering them with tin foil if the tops are cooking faster than the middles)

NOTES:
*Spray your plastic wrap with cooking spray to keep it from sticking to your rolls

ICING
1 C Butter (Trevino says cold whips better)
8 oz Cream Cheese
5 Cups of powder sugar
1 TBsp Vanilla

1-2 tsp Cinnamon for Cinnamon Rolls
Enough cream until you get the consistency you want

Orange Zest and
OJ for Orange Rolls

In a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese, add the rest of the ingredients and whip for approx 3 minutes, scraping the bowl every so often. Whip well before thinning.


I didn't make her honey pan glaze yet, but I want to write it down for later, when I get up the hootzpa to try it.

HONEY PAN GLAZE

1 1/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Butter
1/4 C Honey
1/4 Corn Syrup
1 oz Water- enough to thin and spread

Cream together top 4 ingredients and enough water to make it spreadable. Spread sugar mixture on a sheet pan (or a 9x13 pan) covered with parchment paper, then add whatever nut you want on your rolls. Place your cinnamon rolls onto the glaze, cover with greased plastic wrap. Bake 400 for approx 20 minutes.
When done, put another pan on top, then flip over and let it sit for a while.

Kaleen's Pumpkin Cookies

I love all things pumpkin, and these are total yum! I even baked up the dough as doughnuts too! Super yum!

2 cup sugar

2 cup butter 

-thoroughly cream together 

1 16oz pumpkin (about 2 cups) 

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

Add next and beat well

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

(Do a heaping tsp/1/2 tsp of all your spices)

4 cups flour

Add all dry ingredients and mix again

*optional*

2 cup raisins 

1 cup nuts 

Scoop doing into rounded teaspoon onto greased pan and bake @350 for 12-15 mins. Until tooth pick comes clean. It's suppose to be soft like a cake so don't over bake

Icing ****

1/2 butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 milk

Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute and let cook slightly. Add 1 tsp vanilla and keep adding small amounts of icing sugar while whisking to the right consistency.  Pour loonie size of icing onto slightly warm cookie

*** Notes: I tried these with chocolate chips and I didn't like them as much as I liked them with just nuts or plain! I made my own cream cheese icing  and they were delish!

Cream Cheese Icing

1 8oz Cream Cheese

2-3 Tbsp Butter

Powder Sugar Add until you like the consistency and taste. 

Milk added by the tsp to get the consistency you like if it's a bit thick.

Cinnamon Rolls

I have tried making cinnamon rolls about seven times in our marriage and each time the 'bread' portion of the cinnamon rolls turned out rock hard. Who knows what went wrong each of those times, and maybe it takes making bread/cinnamon rolls a bagillion times to understand the way bread works... who knows. However, these turned out beautifully! They were melt in your mouth good, and the cream cheese just made them over the top! The next day they still were pretty good heated up in the microwave! Definite winner for me!

YIELD: 1 dozen generously-sized rolls

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

COOK TIME: 22 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 5 hours

INGREDIENTS:

Dough

up to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (Start with 4)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons instant dry yeast (one 1/4-ounce packet, I use Red Star Platinum)

pinch salt, optional and to taste

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (3/4 of one stick)

3 large eggs, lightly whisked

3/4 cup buttermilk

Filling

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), very soft - let it sit out while dough rises

1 to 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed

about 3 teaspoons cinnamon (I used almost 5 teaspoons)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Stick of Butter (softened)

8 oz Package of Cream Cheese (softened)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3-4 Cups of Powdered Sugar (I start with 2 and go up depending on my taste buds that day)

DIRECTIONS:

Dough - To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 4 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, yeast, salt to taste; set aside.

Place 6 tablespoons butter in a small microwave-safe bowl, and heat to melt, about 45 seconds; set aside. Crack eggs in another bowl and whisk; set aside.

Add buttermilk to a small pan and heat up over the oven, until the desired heat of your yeast.  Red Star Platinum yeast calls for warmer temperatures than most, 120 to 130F; other brands and yeast call for much lower temperatures, about 95 to 105F. Taking the temperature with a digital thermometer is highly recommended. If the milk separates or gets a little funny looking after being warmed, whisk it to smooth it out.

To the dry ingredients in the stand mixer, add the melted butter, eggs, buttermilk, and beat on medium-low speed for about 1 minute, or until combined.

Switch to the dough hook (the dough will have stuck to the paddle and just pick off what you can and put it into the bowl) and knead for 10 to 12 minutes (15 to 18 minutes by hand). If after 5 minutes more flour is needed, add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough clears the side of the bowl but sticks to the bottom. This is a very sticky, tacky, moist, and borderline sloppy dough; don't be tempted to over-flour it. It's supposed to be that way. The more flour you add now, the less fluffy and more dense the rolls will be. Dough should clear the sides of the mixer while kneading but sticking to the bottom is fine.

Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, spray a large mixing with cooking spray, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or doubled in size. I keep my bowl inside a powered-off oven. Every 45 minutes or so, I power on the oven for 1 minute to 400F, as if I am preheating it, then I power it off. Do not, repeat not, keep the oven on. These short bursts of 1 minute of heat create a stable 85F-ish warm environment, ideal for the yeast. If your rising spot is cold, it will take longer than 2 1/2 hours.

Prepare a 11-by-17-inch or similar sized jellyroll pan or sheet cake pan with a raised edge, or use a 9-by-13-inch pan. I prefer a jellyroll pan because it's slightly larger so the rolls are less squished, have more room to rise, and bake more evenly. Line pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.

Rolling Out the Dough - After dough has doubled in size, punch it down. Turn dough out onto a floured Silpat or floured countertop. Knead it lightly for about 2 minutes. With a rolling pin, roll it out to a 16-by-12-inch rectangle; just slightly larger than a standard Silpat.

Filling - With a knife, butter the dough with 1/2 cup soft butter, leaving a 3/4-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the brown sugar over it. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the brown sugar; I was very generous with the cinnamon and used almost 5 teaspoons and recommend at least 3; just eyeball it and shake it on.

Slicing the Dough - Loosen the dough from the counter using a bench scraper (or metal spatula), and starting with a long edge, roll the dough into a tight log. Pinch the seam closed and turn log so seam side is down. Gently stretch the log to be 18 inches in length with an even diameter all the way around and pat the ends to even them up. Don't fret if your log isn't perfect; it's okay.

Slice the cylinder into 12 evenly sized rolls (about 1 1/2 inches wide) using a bench scraper, serrated knife, or plain unwaxed dental floss (works great to not squish and compact the log). Arrange the rolls cut side down in the prepared baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap.

Decide to Make Straight Through - Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the rolls have nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Or...Decide to Make as Overnight Rolls - Don't let rolls rise after they've been sliced and placed in covered pan. Place pan in refrigerator for up to 16 hours. Before baking, let the rolls sit at room temperature until they have nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Baking -For either version, bake at 350F for 22 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and cooked through but not overly browned. Immediately and generously, spread cream cheese frosting on the warm rolls. Serve immediately. Rolls are best eaten fresh, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Reheat leftover rolls for a few seconds in the microwave before serving. If you have issues with cream cheese frosting at room temperature, then refrigerate the leftover rolls; I don't. For long term storage, I recommend making the rolls as directed and then freezing unfrosted rolls; allow to thaw at room temp prior to serving and frost as directed. I prefer freezing finished rolls rather than freezing uncooked dough.

Cream Cheese Frosting I mix the butter,  cream cheese, and vanilla  together first and then I add the icing sugar a half a cup at a time until I achieve the taste desired, as soon as the rolls are out of the oven I smear the icing all over them… enjoy…YUM!

Cake Mix Sugar Cookies

These are pretty good as far as 'non Jean's Sugar Cookies' go. I like them... maybe not as much as I like Jean's but they are good esp if you like the cakey sugar cookies you can buy. 

Cookies:
1 18 oz box white cake mix with pudding in the mix
2/3 C flour
2 large eggs
1/3 C Vegetable Oil
2 T Sour Cream 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together cake mix and flour.  Add eggs, oil and sour cream and mix on medium speed until incorporated.  Batter is pretty stiff.  Use a cookie scoop or roll into approximately one inch balls and bake on a baking sheet. When I used the cookie scoop, they didn't turn out as pretty. If you don't want the bottoms to brown you can line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Use the heel of your hand or a glass dusted with sugar to gently flatten cookies to about a half inch thick. Bake approximately ten minutes until just set.  Let cool about one minute on the pan and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 T heavy cream or milk
1- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 C powdered sugar
1 T meringue powder (didn't use and they turned out fine)
Food coloring or sprinkles as desired

Beat butter on medium speed for about two minutes until smooth.  Add cream and vanilla and beat about one more minute to incorporate.  Add sugar, one cup at a time mixing on low speed until incorporated until you reach the desired consistency.  Add meringue powder  (this will help your frosting crust so that you can stack the cookies without smearing your frosting all over the place, I use a sheet of wax or parchment paper in between layers).  You want the frosting to be fairly stiff so that it doesnt run off your cookies.  Frost cooled cookies and decorate as desired.  Store cookies in an airtight container.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

This is good stuff! I didn't wnat to run to the store one day when I needed chocolate icing, so I made it from scratch, I have made it twice, and everyone who had it loved it!

Ingredients 

2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.