Cinnamon Rolls

A few months ago, I discovered an awesome recipe for cinnamon rolls. I made them and loved them. Then I made them again and again. The last time I made them, I decided to photograph the process, because I've been slacking on pictures and blogging. So it was a perfect opportunity. Here's the link to the actual recipe: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/cinnamon-rolls-6/?print=1/#size3x5

The first step is not shown here, but is very important: find a music play list to accompany you as you work in the kitchen. I found that the Lord of the Rings soundtrack was excellent.

Next, ensure that you have all the ingredients. Oil, yeast, milk, baking soda, flour (you can use all the same kind...I used two kinds because we were running out of flour :P ), baking powder, cinnamon (duh), salt, and butter. Oh, and sugar. You'll need sugar. There's probably a good reason why I didn't put the sugar in the picture, and that reason is this: I forgot.

You'll start by heating the oil, milk, and sugar on the stove. While pouring in the sugar, make sure that you get distracted by photographing it and spill it all over the stove. I'm sure that's essential.

Once the milk has heated up, pour it into a bowl (or you could just make sure the pot you heat it up in is big enough :P ) and make sure it's not too hot and not too cold. Then pour in the yeast and let that sit.

Add in almost all of the flour, cover it with a towel, and let it sit and rise for an hour.

After it has risen sufficiently, add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and the last cup of flour. Stir it all up (for those of you who like to use your hands to mix stuff up, this step is for you :) ). Then you can stick it in the fridge to chill for easier handling.

When you're ready to commence roll making, gather your pans, the butter, cinnamon, and sugar, and find a rolling pin and knife. I used two small pie plates, 2 9x13 pans, and an 8x8 pan. Yep, the recipe makes a lot, but that's all the better for sharing! Butter your pans, and set them aside. Melt some butter (I think I used a little over two sticks), and get some extra flour to dust over your counter for rolling out. Split the roll dough in half and roll out one of the halves.

Once it's rolled out, spread butter on it, and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on it. Doesn't it look beautiful?

Then, you roll it up, starting at the edge that's farthest from you and rolling it to yourself. Get a large knife (the one I use is mostly non-serrated) and start slicing.

Then they go in your pans. Now, as you slice them, some of the cinnamon/sugar/butter will ooze out. You can either take a plastic spoon (because plastic spoons are somewhat flexible) and scoop it up and put it on the cinnamon rolls in the pan, or just put it back in your pot with melted butter. (Then you reuse it on the next batch, and any leftover from that gets used to make cinnamon toast). Repeat that with the second half of dough, and let the rolls rise for a half hour.

Then, it's in the oven they go! While they're baking, you can make the frosting/glaze. I didn't take picture of it because I didn't exactly follow the recipe.

And then you have beautiful, yummy cinnamon rolls.