I have made 5,779,559 batches of
cranberry bliss bars over the years.
Each year, I get a little more sick of making them. But, I keep doing it. This year, I made as many as my ingredients allowed me. I was ready to try something new.
I have never made homemade cinnamon rolls.
I have been following Pioneer Woman before you saw her on the Food Network. Before you saw her cookbook at Costco. Way back when you made fun of me for standing in line in a Seattle bookstore to get her to sign her first cookbook. I just adore her and am so proud of all she has accomplished.
I have read about her cinnamon rolls over the years in intimidation. They made so many. I was afraid of the mess. I was nervous I would ruin them.
However, I did it and guess what, they were EASY and GOOD.
The recipe made EIGHT trays. I kept one to serve here and bundled up the rest to give away. I used these darling
Christmas printables to affix to the trays with freezing/baking instructions. I wrapped them all up with their labels and it was great to have something to hand off to a neighbor, family with a new baby, or add to a Christmas gift. I had no special list - they just waited in the freezer for the next opportunity for sharing.
Details. Here is
her recipe. Here is a later post she did to answer some of the
frequently asked questions (I'd also suggest reading in advance). Ree's detailed recipe is super helpful and the blog posts and comments made me feel prepared. I followed some of the commenters' advice by not completely melting the butter (same effect, less mess). I did follow the recipe using maple extract and coffee. However, I did not find the flavor to be overwhelming and I've heard no complaints. Make sure you have a full afternoon with nowhere to be as there are several steps with waiting periods in between (but this is NOT hard, I promise!)
This was fun and something different to share with loved ones. On the "keep" list for sure.
I did miss one step in the directions where you are supposed to divide the dough. I did not and this was my very long log of goodness. It still worked - fortunately I had enough space!
Here are all the rolls waiting in their pan to rise before going into the oven.
Maple-ey goodness. This glaze made the kitchen smell amazing. However, the maple flavor is not as strong as the smell was letting on (in a good way).
I baked all of the rolls and ladeled on the glaze and prepared them for freezing. I wrapped each foil tin in plastic wrap and foil with these labels affixed to them and them stacked in the freezer ready to be delivered!
Yum!
PS: These were some of the first pictures I took with my
new flash and it is obvious I'm still figuring it out!
