Cinnamon Rolls

Today is Teacher Appreciation Day. I wanted to do something for the staff at my boys' school. The teachers and staff there are wonderful! So, on the blog-o-sphere, I found a recipe for Big Batch Cinnamon Rolls. Thanks to Amy at The Finer Things in Life for posting the recipe!!

For our wedding, we were given a stand mixer. I think it was a Sunbeam. It was small, but we were newly married with no kids so we had no need for anything larger....except that we got pregnant very soon after we were married and soon had another. Somewhere about the 3rd or 4th year anniversary mark, the mixer died. I was upset! I used that mixer almost daily. My kids liked to bake with me and we were constantly making cookies or muffins or SOMETHING. I knew Kitchen Aids were good, but I didn't want to spend the money. So, I went online and found one with Wolfgang Puck's name on it. It was a stronger motor than the KA and a WAYYYYYYYY cheaper pricetag. It also came with a money back guarantee. So, I ordered it and waited. Then it came and I was surprised by how light the box was....the whole thing was plastic! Very light and I was afraid that it wouldn't last long enough for me (I was only asking for a lifetime of use out of the thing!). So, I never even took the whole thing out of the box and shipped it back. About that time, KA was having a sale, so I got the 6 qt KA with an extra bowl and 2 rubber scrapers for only $200 more than the plastic one! WOOHOO! Now, roughly 4 years later, I STILL use the KA often. I got the 6 qt one because it has a 10 cup flour capacity. I figured it could then handle a double batch of cookies or breads, etc. Yesterday I first tested the capacity! I made the Big Batch Cinnamon Rolls and it calls for 9 cups of flour! And it handled it like a champ. I loved it!! You could make these by with your mixer and knead them by hand, but I was able to do it all with the mixer and they were great!! Enjoy!

Big Batch Cinnamon Rolls

Mix 3 cups hot water with 3 tbsp yeast and 3/4 cup sugar. Let stand 2-3 minutes to activate the yeast.

Mix in 2 cups flour.

Add 3/4 cup oil, 1 tsp salt, and 3 eggs. Mix well.

Add 7 cups of flour, a couple at a time until incorporated and knead until dough is not sticky.

Set dough in a LARGE bowl and allow to rise until doubled in size (I used the ginormous tupperware bowl.) Takes about an hour.

Divide dough in half and roll into a long rectangle. Spread with softened butter, sprinkle with brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon. Roll up and use a long piece of floss to cut into 18 pieces. Repeat with the other half of dough. Place rolls on a greased pan and allow to rise again, about 30 minutes. (I use a warm oven for the rising. Preheat the oven to about 80-100* and shut it off, it will stay warm in there and they will rise really nice!)

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before icing.

Cinnamon Roll Icicng

1/4 c melted butter
1 tbsp vanilla (use clear vanilla if you want to have WHITE icing)
3 tbsp milk
powdered sugar (takes almost a full bag to get to the consistancy I like)

Mix until spreadable. I like it thick like frosting, some like it thinner like a glaze, it's all personal preference. I added a touch of purple coloring (for the Bulldogs!) because it was kinda brown from the vanilla.

(I bet the brown butter icing from the pumpkin cookies I made last week would be good on these, also!)

Cookies!

Today Tim had to take a plate of cookies with him to work. Every month or so a different department at his school is supposed to treat the other teachers, but they haven't done it since he's been there, so this month there are 3 departments working together on it. I didn't know that until AFTER I already baked cookies. So, I thought it was just him and the other teacher so I made 2 batches, one with chocolate and one without. So, he took both batches, anyway. The chocolate chip ones that I made were good, but they really flattened out....too much for my taste. I won't be making that recipe again, but from the same book, I got this recipe for Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting. Tim didn't get to try them last night because I was up until 11pm making them. Apparently they were good because he woke me up to tell me they were "terrible" (He thinks that telling me they are terrible will make me make them again since I RARELY ever make the same recipe twice...) Well, I have to agree, they are pretty darn good! I love the brown butter frosting....it's caramely in flavor and the color is GORGEOUS! They are a fussy cookie to make, but COMPLETELY worth it!! Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

2 3/4 c ap flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg (fresh ground if you can)
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 c) unsalted butter (I used salted and cut down on the salt above to compensate), softened
2 1/4 c packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 c (14 oz) canned pumpkin (NOT pie filling!)
3/4 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together: flour, baking soda and powder, salt cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer (here's when I really LOVE my KitchenAid!). Mix in eggs. Reduce spead to low and add pumpkin, evaporated milk and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. This mixture will be rather soft.

Use a pastry bag and a #12 (or similar) tip to pipe circles 1 1/2 inches around and 1 inch apart on a parchment lined or greased cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, rotate pan and bake another 5-7 minutes or until tops spring back. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Icing
4 c powdered sugar
1 1/4 sticks (10 tbsp) unsalted butter
1/4 c plus 1 tbsp evaporated milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Put powdered sugar in the bowl you want to mix in. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Pour into the powdered sugar and scrape the browned bits from the pan into the frosting. Add evaporated milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Frost each cookie with approx 1 tsp of frosting. Allow to set before stacking. Can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for 3 days. (Like they'd last that long!) Makes approx 6 dozen