Yeast rolls

 

So you know, this blog is such a mish-mosh of everything. Life, cooking, cleaning, faith, family etc...etc..etc.. so on a random given day, you really do never know what you're going to come across here!

Today, I was inspired to try my hand at my 2nd in a lifetime Yeast recipe. Last Easter I made the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls and they were a huge hit. Everyone loved them. They were gooey and delish, and amazing, and everyone ate as many as they possibly could. I won't lie and say we didn't have leftovers, but they were gone the next day! I also halfed the recipe because we surely didn't need as many as her original recipe makes. 

Pinterest has become my downfall, and my love. There are so many things on there that make life incredibly easy, and complicated all at the same time. I literally have almost 4,000 Pins of things I have found online that I love. Thankfully for Pinterest, I don't have to remember them all, I just have to remember to go to Pinterest to find them. This place is amazing! Yesterday, while browsing my 'food junkie' pinboard, I remembered that I had pinned (a while ago) a recipe for the Honey Cinnamon butter that you can get at Texas Roadhouse restaurants. Well yum. I had all the ingredients, and figured why not? that'd be a fun little, doesn't go bad, treat to have in the house. Right? And last night I mentioned to my nephew that I had made some, and in true Jay fashion, he says "Well you better make some rolls to go with it!" lol and well... that is my morning 'pin'spiration! LOL

I did some searches ( of course forgetting that I had several "yeast" roll recipes already pinned) and I stumbled across this little recipe  - and didn't read it. 36 Servings. WOAH that's some breakfast for the 3 of us! LOL all because I wanted some rolls to go with our butter. HAHAHA this is my life. 

Anyway - here we go. Delish-ous-ness! 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 2 cups hot water
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs

This is the dough after I mixed it all by hand with my neat little dough spoon I got in Amish Country last spring. It works great (especially since Santa STILL hasn't brought me my kitchen-aid mixer). It's a bit sticky. The original recipe says that I can use it for cinnamon rolls, but it's not the same as Pioneer woman's dough so I'd stick with that one. I also did use (6) cups of flour because it was so wet. 

*whistling* (waiting for it to rise, this is the hard part)

*punching* down the dough. This is the fun part.

*whistling* (again... because once you punch it down, you have to wait for it to rise again)

Ah now for the good part! 

Rolling out the rolls. Yes I did just go there... haha I never said I wasn't cheesy. Oh wait, did you think this was the part where we baked? No. Not yet. Now we wait again while they rise in the pan! 

So a few notes while we're waiting.
1) This dough is STICKY. Seriously! I don't know that it's supposed to be, but in order to work with it I really had to knead some flour into it because it was sticking more to me, than anything else.
2) Remember if you're using the link above that it defaults to 36 rolls, which you may not need unless you're at a church potluck or live with an army of teenage boys.

I chose to bake mine in my 12" cast iron skillet. I love this baby, and I think it just adds some rustic, homemaked goodness to the final product. (I'm still waiting to see if this is true, since the rolls are still rising in their pan.) I put 9 in the skillet, and then left the skillet on the stove to rise, while the oven warms up. (cheating you say? Maybe! But I'm hoping the heat from the oven will quicken the 3rd rising time) 

3) Reviews were incredibly mixed on the original recipe. Many people opted to add more flour (Up to 2 cups in some instances) Some of those people had poor success getting the dough to rise. Some didn't. I didn't add nearly that much flour on the board where i worked them into rolls, so we'll see how mine turn out. Several reviewers really cautioned against adding more flour. Some said use oil or melted butter on your hands and work the dough that way. I'll try that with the next batch. For now, mine seem to be rising just fine. 

Impatience won out. Now I see why mom always bought the Frozen "thaw & bake" variety. And told me Yeast was evil. Ok I don't believe that last part. Many women have great success with it right? 

Well the loaf that is left is rising nicely. The stuff in the pan? a bit slower :( 

Ah, trusty kitchen-aid knife. You will help me! I greased it up w/some butter and started cutting the dough on the board. Then I plopped them onto a cookie sheet (Well greased also) and popped them in the oven.
*Back to whistling because it's 30-45 minutes to bake* - BUT they smell amazing already and it's only been 10 minutes. The boys might actually roll out of bed for this one! (we won't mention that it's now 12pm. This process was started at 10am.
Ah the virtues of mom's frozen rolls)

Sorry no pics of the Cookie sheet batch. Not yet anyway. You get the idea though!

All this work because of some Honey Cinnamon Butter. Really? Shaking my head & fist at my nephew!My oven runs hot. I noticed that around 20 minutes they started to 'look' done and by 25 minutes I really should have pulled them out. I left them in for 30. Next batch will come out earlier!

THE VERDICT: 

Next time I'd definitely pull the next batch out earlier. They aren't as light and fluffy as I would like, but the flavor is very very good.  

I might continue the search for another roll recipe and keep trying till I get the results I want :) But definitely, the butter is fabulous!