Ree’s Cinnamon Rolls

My attempt at baking Pioneer Woman’s sinful cinnamon rolls.

Here is the link to the recipe and blog post: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/
Just warning you, it may leave you drooling by the end! If you’re not familiar with Pioneer Woman, you must check out her blog. Her writing style is very witty and her photography is amazing. The recipes aren’t usually low-fat or particularly healthy, but they always look so tasty and I love the way she presents them. This recipe is definitely not ‘non-caloric’ as she puts it, but mmmm boy, I think it’s worth the extra calories.
I made these for a staff picnic bake-off, because I figured that way I am prevented from eating all of them myself. I made half a batch, which made 3 pans of rolls.  It’s a really big recipe, because the idea is to make them to give to people at christmas. I think that’s a great idea! This time, we kept one pan for ourselves, and I froze the other two for the bake-off. I pulled them out the night before and thawed them so they were ready for the picnic the following day. Tony was a littled miffed that I only made one pan for us. He really wanted more, and has been hinting that I should make cinnamon rolls again. Cole and Bennett couldn’t get enough of them either, so they were clearly a big success with my family.
It was surprising that they turned out at all, because I hit a few snags along the way. First I accidentally boiled the milk instead of scalding it, but luckily it didn’t curdle. Then I forgot to add the baking soda and had to knead it into the dough. Amazingly they tasted pretty good in the end, but I think I need to add more cinnamon next time. It’s a good first attempt considering I don’t even remember the last time I made cinnamon rolls.
They weren’t good enough to win the bake-off, but that’s okay, I still had a wonderful time at the picnic. Tony had to work and Bennett was napping at daycare, so I got to spend an afternoon with my eldest son Cole, just me and him. We were busy getting his face painted as spiderman when they were choosing the winner of the bake-off, so I don’t even know who won!

Here’s a photo of Spidey and me at the picnic: