The Pioneer Woman and Me

Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman a.k.a. P-Dub made a stop to St. Louis last weekend on her book tour.  Of course I was there.  I have photographic evidence.  P-Dub is darling.  Her husband, Marlboro Man, was there as well.  MM is darling too.

Photographic evidence.  That's me hanging out behind P-Dub.  Somehow Lakota and her Momma snuck in there too...  Just kidding, I love you ladies.   

I recently found myself presented with an unexpected day off.  With that extra time on my hands, and in honor of meeting P-Dub and Marlboro Man themselves, I decided to do some baking.  What better way to celebrate meeting a cookbook author than to make something from said cookbook?  

Enter said cookbook. 

The Closet Cook strikes again!  I decided on Cinnamon Rolls.  I also decided that Ree's original recipe was better suited for an army.  Seeing as my family of three probably would drown under the sheer amount of cinnamon roll goodness the original recipe would produce, I created a halved recipe.  Rather, I divided the ingredients in half which isn't nearly the same creating a recipe.  I digress. 

The original recipe is available on Ree's website, of course.  

The modified version for people who don't have an army to feed:

Dough:

2 cups whole milk*

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

 1 package active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon salt

Filling:

1 cup melted butter

1/8 cup ground cinnamon 

1 cup sugar

Maple** icing:

1 pound powdered sugar

1/4 cup whole* milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1/8 cup strongly brewed coffee

Pinch of salt

1/2 tablespoon maple flavoring or maple extract

 * I have to make a confession.  I didn't use whole milk.  I used 1%.  Because that's what we drink.  And I didn't want to buy whole milk.

** I have another confession to make, I didn't make maple icing.  I pretty much just didn't add the coffee or the maple flavoring.

They tasted delicious still, I promise.

Following Ree's faithful cookbook, I started with the dough.  I heated the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar, taking care not to allow the mixture to boil.  Just shy of boiling, I removed it from the heat.  The cookbook instructs to allow the mixture to cool to lukewarm before adding the yeast.

Or you can just remove from the heat and add the yeast on top right away like I did.  I then allowed the yest to chill on top for a minute.  One minute.  Not one second more or less.  Because I like to pick and choose which directions are more important than others.

Next is the flour.  3 1/2 cups of it.  I stirred until just combined and then covered the bowl with a dish towel for an hour.

Then I had an hour to fill.

So I went and twiddled my thumbs.

Actually, I went and burned some brush out back.

When my hour was up, I recruited my brother to watch the fire while I attended to the dough. 

To the ruminating dough I added the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the rest of the dough (1 cup).

At this point, the dough can actually be refrigerated for up to three days.  I chose to use it right away, which is allowed per Ree's recipe.  It's also at this point I would advise to chill the dough for at least another hour, because I found the dough could have been easier to work with if it had had time to firm up a bit.  Details smetails. 

The next step, regardless of whether it's three minutes or three days after the last step, is to melt some butter and swish is around the desired baking pan.  Which is what I did.

This looks nothing like a rectangle.  

This was the (messy) fun part.  I rolled the dough, attempting to follow the "rectangle shape" instructions.  I obviously failed geometry.

Sniff.  I did the best I could.

Now, the original recipe directs you to work with half of the dough at this point.  I did this, but, long story short, don't.  In this shortened recipe, I should have used the whole blob of dough at once.  Pretend I did this.

I added about half of a 1/2 cup of melted butter next.  Then sprinkled the cinnamon and the sugar EVERYWHERE.  Then I added the rest of the butter.  And then added some more cinnamon and sugar again too.  Yum.

Once the filling was perfected to all of its buttery sugary cinnamony glory, I started rolling the dough.  The goal was a rolled dough log.  I had a rolled dough blob.  I tried to keep each layer as tight as possible, because it would make more rings in the rolls and more rings means... I don't really know what it means.  But it's important.

This.  smells.  amazing. 

The next step was to cut the log into strips.  This is the point I realized I wish I had chilled the dough.  The dough circles I cut didn't retain the circular shape that seems to be the norm for cinnamon rolls.  I had cinnamon blobs.

Despite its unruliness, this.  looks.  amazing.

Let me introduce my cinnamon blobs.  I assure you, however, they tasted fantastic no matter what their shape.  I would also suggest to cut the rolls wider as opposed to thinner. 

I then placed the rolls into the baking pan and preheated the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  I covered the pan with a dish towel and set aside for 20 minutes to let the dough rise.  Once I finished twiddling my thumbs for 20 minutes, I removed the towel and baked for the suggested 13 to 17 minutes.  Make sure the rolls are baked through enough.  I didn't and I almost ruined the whole thing. 

While the rolls were baking, I made the icing!  I whisked together the powdered sugar, butter, and salt.  If they're not crazy like me, one could go ahead and add the coffee and maple flavoring too.  This is what makes it maple icing.  I just had butter and sugar icing.  Whisk whisk whisk.

Action shot!

Once the cinnamon rolls were baked sufficiently, I promptly removed them from the oven and poured the icing EVERYWHERE.

Then I sat back and drooled.

Then I located a bowl.

And a fork.    

Bowl of love. 

This is a bowl of love.  It is love in a bowl.  With a fork.

Make these.  As soon as possible.  Eat them for breakfast.  

Or you can make them in the middle of the day if you want.  Like I did.  Whatever floats your boat.

I'm no Pioneer Woman, but I'd like to think of this as an adventure of the Pioneer Woman and me.

Signed,

A Closet Cook