The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls are beyond amazing! Pillowy soft and filled with butter and cinnamon - perfect for brunch!
If you have never visited The Pioneer Woman's site, you simply must do so (after you spend a little time here, of course). Not only are her tales of life on her family's ranch engaging, but she takes the most photos and turns out some mouth-watering recipes.
This recipe is blatantly, and respectfully, plagiarized from The Pioneer Woman (well, except in my own words). I read so many rave reviews that I simply had to try them for myself. I was not disappointed! These little gems epitomize everything that is good about breakfast breads. They were so tender that they literally melted on my tongue and the maple glaze was the perfect topping.
The recipe posted by The Pioneer Woman makes seven pans of cinnamon rolls. I decided to half it, but it could easily be doubled.
In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups whole milk, ½ cup canola oil, and ½ cup sugar.
Heat the mixture until just before it reaches the boiling point. Remove from the heat and let cool for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the mixture is lukewarm. If the mixture is hot, it will kill the yeast. Poor little guys.
Add one package of active dry yeast. Give it a little stir.
Let the yeast get comfortable for a minute and then add 4 cups all-purpose flour. Stir well.
Cover and let rise in a warm room for at least an hour. The dough had risen all the way to the top of the pot, but fell a little when I moved it. Didn't it know it was up for a photo op?
Mix in ½ cup all-purpose flour...
...heaping ½ teaspoon of baking powder...
...a scant ½ teaspoon baking soda...
... and 2 teaspoons salt.
Stir well.
If you're ready to make the cinnamon rolls, go for it. Just follow the next steps. If not, cover the pot with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
I couldn't bear to wait. Generously cover the counter with flour. Shape the dough into a rectangle.
With a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough thin.
Now, the original recipe suggests that you pour 1 ½ to 2 cups melted butter over the dough. Now, who am I to argue with perfection? However, by the time that I had poured 1 cup over the dough, I could see that I was going to make a huge mess if I went any further. So, I stopped there. It's your call.
Sprinkle ½ cup sugar over the butter.
Then sprinkle enough cinnamon so that it looks like this. Sorry, I didn't measure so I can't be more specific.
Starting from the far edge, start rolling up the dough. Do it as tightly as you can without all of your butter gushing out.
Cut the roll into pieces that are ¾ - 1 inch wide.
Brush the pans with melted butter and fill with the rolls, leaving a small space between the rolls.
Let the rolls rest for 20-30 minutes so that they rise a little.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pans in the oven and bake the rolls for 12-15 minutes, or until they are light golden brown.
While the rolls are baking, make the glaze. Put 1 lb (½ bag) powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Add 1 teaspoon maple extract.
Add ¼ milk...
...2 tablespoon melted butter (okay, mine had started to solidify again - still worked)...
...a pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoon brewed coffee. If you prefer not to use the coffee (though it adds great flavor), substitute 2 tablespoon milk. Stir until the glaze is smooth.
Pour the glaze over the rolls. Don't be shy - really pour it on there. You won't regret it.
Now it's time to dig in and enjoy!
Amazing Cinnamon Rolls
Rolls:
2 cups whole milk
½ cup canola oil
½ cup sugar
1 package active dry yeast
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided + more for rolling
½ heaping teaspoon baking powder
½ scant teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
1 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
Generous amount of cinnamon
Maple Glaze:
1 lb (½ bag) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon maple extract
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoon brewed coffee
Pinch of salt
In a medium saucepan, combine whole milk, canola oil, and sugar. Heat the mixture until just before it reaches the boiling point. Remove from the heat and let cool for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the mixture is lukewarm. If the mixture is hot, it will kill the yeast. Add the package of active dry yeast. Give it a little stir. Let the yeast get comfortable for a minute and then add 4 cups all-purpose flour. Stir well. Cover and let rise in a warm room for at least an hour.
After the yeast rises, mix in ½ cup all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well.
If you're ready to make the cinnamon rolls, go for it. Just follow the next steps. If not, cover the pot with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Generously cover the counter with flour. Shape the dough into a rectangle. With a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough thin. Pour melted butter over the dough and spread with a brush or spoon. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the butter.
Starting from the far edge, start rolling up the dough. Do it as tightly as you can without all of your butter gushing out. Cut the roll into pieces that are ¾ - 1 inch wide. Brush the pans with melted butter and fill with the rolls, leaving a small space between the rolls. Let the rolls rest for 20-30 minutes so that they rise a little.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pans in the oven and bake the rolls for 12-15 minutes, or until they are light golden brown.
While the rolls are baking, make the glaze. Put powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Add maple extract, milk, melted butter, brewed coffee, and salt. Stir until the glaze is smooth. Pour over the rolls while they are still warm. Serve.
yum
How do you get the yeast not to die for sure? Is it ok if the milk is cold?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Letting the milk cool for 45 to 60 minutes typically allows it to cool to the correct temperature for the yeast. However, the best method of measuring the temperature of the yeast is with an instant-read thermometer. The milk temperature should be 105 to 115 degrees. Good luck! These cinnamon rolls are well worth the effort.
things we make
ooh - I love cinnamon rolls, and I love Pioneer Woman. I have been making Kringel in a cinnamon roll stylie which ends up quite crispy so I may try making these in a pan like this as they may be more soft. Love your food and photos.
Shannon
I made these for the family this morning, and everybody loved them! I made a big mess, but it was fun. Thanks for this awesome recipe~
Anonymous
These were nothing but amazing! So impressed. I halved this recipe again 'cause first time there was just too much for my girlfriend and I, although we tried to eat them all. I found when spreading the melted butter onto the dough, if you melt half the amount in the microwave, then add the other half to the hot mixture, by the time they blend together you have a spreadable consistency. Also stirring the butter in a metal bowl set in cool water speeded this up. Thanks for this recipe. XXX
Cookin' Canuck
Leo, I wish I had an answer to your question, but I have never cooked any sort of baked good in the microwave. I would suggest for doing a search on Google for microwave baking.
Leo
Omg, How many years has it been? Over a decade!
I was able to get an oven after asking this question and I had made cinnamon rolls more than a dozen times for myself and my friends and I always received great compliments for them. The last time I made cinnamon rolls with your recipe was may be in 2012, 8 years ago.
Today, I was talking to me wife, who was my girlfriend back in 2012 and had on several occasions tasted my great cinnamon rolls, and she mentioned to me how great my cinnamon rolls were. That brought back a lot of sweet memories and I felt a surge of nostalgia and a strong urge to try your cinnamon rolls again. But it has been so many years and I didnt have the recipe anymore. An extensive search on google did not turn up this particular recipe either. There are so many other recipes and I am sure they all taste great but this is the only recipe I have ever used to make my cinnamon rolls. I was about to give up when I remembered that I have been keeping all my bookmarks in my browser since 2006. So I dug into my hundreds of bookmarks and, yes, finally, to my great delight, I found it ! I am so happy. This reply is a testament to how happy I am. I will try to make cinnamon rolls with this recipe again this weekend and we will be reminiscing our good old memories while munching on them.
I dont know if this post is being monitored, but here we go. Thank you, thank you, thank you very much for all the memories and sweetness you have given to me.
Leo
Dara
Aww, thank you so much for your comment, Leo. It's wonderful when certain recipes bring such fond memories!
leo
Thank you very much for sharing a great recipe. It looks very delicious and I really like to try it. But the sad thing is we dont have an oven where I live. So I would like to know if it can be done with a microwave. If it is so, may I know how to do it with a microwave? Thanks in advance.
leo
josh
Hello cancer and blood sugar spike; but o so good!
Anonymous
These were great! I refrigerated the dough overnight, and then let it warm up to room temperature a bit before rolling and spreading the butter on. The butter hardened up a bit on the cool dough which made it really easy to roll without the butter gushing out! Thanks for the good eats 🙂
Pat
Try using real Cinnamon in your recipe and reduce on the sugar.
The Cinnamon in the US is actually Cassia, which contains a high level of coumarin.
Cookin' Canuck
Although I haven't tried it, I think these would freeze really well. You could either freeze them after they've been already baked (this would be my second choice) or freeze the dough after it's already been shaped. Take them out of the freezer the night before, let them defrost and rise, and and bake them in the morning. Good luck!
Heavenly Housewife
wow these look so fantastic. i am drooling! do u know if these can be frozen?
Cookin' Canuck
Jen, good luck with your bake sale. I hope it's a huge success.
Jen @ MyKitchenAddiction.com
These look great! I am having a bake sale for Share Our Strength this weekend, and I was looking for some good recipes. I think I will give this a try!
Cookin' Canuck
No more eye-balling. Get cooking! You'll be glad you did.
Heidi
I have been eye-balling this recipe on the pioneer womans site for some time now. I can't wait to try it!
Cookin' Canuck
I'd offer you the leftovers, but my family gobbled them up this morning. Yum!
Norah
Well now I want a cinnamon roll for breakfast.
Tamber
I think I am going to be sick. I am Diabetic. Do you not consider your health?
It was alright for a pioneer woman to cook stuff like this as she had to feed her people expending 6000 calories a day working manually, but not these fat Wal Mart employees.
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Hi Tamber. You're right- these are calorie/fat/sugar-filled treats meant only for special occasions. The great thing about seeing something on a blog is that no one is forcing you to eat it. Thanks for stopping by.
Rick
Tamber,
The nice thing about freedom is to make choices... I don't think Dara intends on her audience to make and consume these on a "daily" basis! Every once in a while, mixed with judicious exercise and other healthy living habits won't be harmful. Now, if you sat down and ate the whole enchilada like a glutton... well, what can I say?
Josh,
Sugar spike... sure! A load on the pancreatic cells? No doubt.
But, cancer? Can you tell me specifically "what" in the recipe is going to cause cancer?
Just curious and, please, cite references ok?
I'll truly be interested in reading your cited journal articles!
Dara,
My wife is in the hospital having hip surgery at the moment. So when she gets home... she'll have one of these cinnamon buns and a cup of cappuccino coffee!
Thanks for the recipe.
Cheers.
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Rick, I couldn't have said it better myself! I hope your wife's recovery is a speedy one.