Cinnamon Rolls

While my parents are in town this weekend, I’m making these cinnamon rolls, which I first made two years ago.  Enjoy!

I have been craving cinnamon rolls for about a week.

I blame the Pioneer Woman.

But, after everything I’ve been doing lately to eat better and after attending the Green Festival in Denver yesterday, I could hardly condone buying a tube of ready-made ones from the Dough Boy.

I read something that said if you want so-called “bad” food enough to make it yourself, go ahead and make it! (Because chances are, you won’t want to go to the trouble all the time, and occasional treats are good for the soul.) So I decided to make them myself. On a rainy Sunday morning at altitude.

Now, you should know, I’m not the world’s greatest chef to begin with. I have my triumphs and more than my fair share of failures to balance them out. And, you should also know, that after more than two years living in the Mile High City, I have still not mastered baking at altitude.

Except chocolate chip cookies. I make kick ass chocolate chip cookies.

Anyway, I decided to make slightly lightened cinnamon rolls this morning. And my husband waited patiently (for various meanings of the word patient) for two hours for the rolls and the yeast and the cinnamony goodness to do their thing.

And this is the result:

Just two words: So. Good.

Slightly En-Lightened Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup fat free milk
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 T sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 T yeast
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 T melted butter

Instructions

Stir together milk, vegetable oil, sugar and salt in measuring cup. Heat to lukewarm in the microwave. Pour yeast over 2 tablespoons lukewarm water and let sit 5 minutes. Stir into milk mixture.

Transfer warm milk to a large mixing bowl and beat in half the flour by hand or with an electric mixer. Mix in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Let rest 10 minutes; knead well on a floured board or with an electric mixer and dough hook; let rest 10 minutes.

Spray a large, clean bowl with cooking spray, add dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Lightly coat a 9-inch (23 cm) round baking pan with cooking spray. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roll into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle. Melt the butter and brush onto the dough with a pastry brush.

Stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over dough. Roll up tightly, starting with the long side, like a jelly roll. Cut into 9 pieces.

Place buns cut-side up in baking pan. Cover with plastic and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake buns until firm and nicely browned on top, 30 minutes. Cool completely before inverting onto a serving plate. Drizzle with icing if you should so desire. (And who doesn’t?)

And before someone asks about the background (pretend you were going to ask about the background), yes, my husband eats pepperoni with his cinnamon rolls.

Don’t you?