Chili and cinnamon rolls....

mmmm....can you smell that aroma coming from my kitchen??!?! Ok, I know many of you think I've lost it, grouping these two foods together. And, you may be right...then again, I don't think so. I grew up on eating chili and cinnamon rolls. And I mean, eating them together-not one first, and then the other. We used to have this for school lunch and some way or another it because a staple at our home. You break off a piece of roll and dip it in the chili. Mmmmmm.... Don't knock it till you try it. There is just something with the combination of the spicy chili and sweet roll that makes them perfect for each other. A perfect match!

I still haven't convinced my husband that this is the way to go, so he has his roll after he finishes his chili. But at least it's during the same meal that he has the two together!!

Every Halloween we have a "Trunk-or-treat" at church and they do a chili cookoff, and serve corn bread(yuck!). So I always bring a tray or two of cinnamon rolls. The first year someone had the nerve to move my rolls from the "corn bread" table to the "dessert" table. ARGH!! lol However, after doing this for the past four years, I think they know not to move them! They are a side, not a dessert! ROFL And it never fails that I have a list of ladies asking for the recipe, after the event.

So I thought I'd dedicate a post to making cinnamon rolls. Nope, I'm not an expert. Nope, it's not my recipe. But I LOVE them! And I've learned a couple tips along the way. But before I post the recipe, I need to clarify one thing with my siblings. My mom came up with this recipe some time ago and she's constantly changing it, trying to improve it, making it smaller or larger, etc. So my disclaimer is, this may not be the "latest and greatest" recipe she's done so far. However, this is the one that's in my cookbook and the one I'm using!

 

Mom's Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:

2 cups warm water

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. yeast

2 eggs

1 tsp. salt

5-6 cups flour

Filling:

1 cube margarine (soft-NOT MELTED)

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. cinnamon

Frosting:

1 cube margarine (soft)

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

 

I set my yeast, egg, and margarine out for a little while to warm it to room temp. Don't ask me the chemistry behind doing this. I was just watching a cooking show and they said yeast and eggs should be at room temp when baking. So I do it! lol In a ceramic bowl, I mix the yeast, warm water and sugar. Making it in a ceramic bowl is important because it helps keep the water warm. Stir it gently to just wet the yeast and then let it sit on the counter for at least 15 minutes.  If you didn't kill your yeast with too hot of water, it should look like this...

While your yeast is raising, go ahead and make up the filling. Make sure you don't melt your margarine. Once it's mixed up, set it aside.

Ok, now transfer the yeast mixture to your Kitchen-Aid. Then add your eggs, oil and salt. Then you will slowly add your flour. I use the white paddle attachment to mix it until I've added a couple cups of flour and then I switch to the dough hook. You want to keep adding flour until it starts to pull from the sides and form a ball. It may still be slightly sticky.

I spread a little flour on my cutting mat, and knead the dough by hand until it's no longer sticky-adding tiny bits of flour.

If I'm making the whole recipe (you can 1/2 it), I then divide the dough in half and set 1/2 aside in the bowl. The other 1/2 I start rolling out with my wooden rolling pin (I love the wood better than the plastic one I have), and  I roll it the size of the cutting mat. If the dough sticks to your hands, but you don't want to add more flour because it will make it too stiff, just put a little oil on your hands. That will help keep it from sticking to you.

Sidenote!...My cutting mats are some of my new found favs. We have a couple cutting boards that are stained and bulky, but we spent some money on them so I don't want to throw them out. I found these cutting mats at Wal-Mart, in a package of 2, for only a couple bucks. I love that I can bend them after I've chopped veggies and pour the veggies into my bowl or pan. They are easy clean-up, not bulky, and when they get stained, I'm not going to feel bad tossing them and getting new ones. And it's perfect for rolls because it gives me a measurement for rolling and I can cut my dough on them. (I used to roll the dough on my counter and then I'd have to slip a cutting board under the roll so I could cut them)

 

Next, grab your filling and spread 1/2 the mixture on your dough. Make sure you carry it all the way out to the edges. You don't want to be eating just dough! Then starting with a long end, roll it up! Pinch the edges together to keep it rolled tight. Then, cut your dough into approx. 1/2-3/4" segments. Make a cut down the middle, and then divide those pieces in 1/2 again...and then again. So I get about 16 out of 1/2 of the dough.

You then repeat these steps for the other half of the dough. Let them raise till they are doubled in size and then bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Now I know my mom might chime in here and say that the ORIGINAL recipe is suppose to make 20 rolls and here I am getting 36. And she would be right. It depends on what I'm making them for as to how many I get. If I'm taking these to a party, I don't divide my dough up. I roll the whole thing out at once, and then cut it into 20 rolls. These 20 rolls will fit perfectly on my Sam's baking sheets and will be Texas size rolls! Seriously, they are HUGE!

However, when I'm at home, I try to be really good and control my appetite! I have to admit, I like eating "more than one" (Regardless of the size), and I don't like to reheat them. My brothers will probably say that they are best the next day for breakfast, but I like mine warm and fresh.

So this is what works best for me...I have a family of 4, and we each like to eat two. So I'll put 8 rolls on a baking sheet and set them by the fire to raise. Then, I put the other 24 on two baking sheets that I have lined with wax paper or parchment paper. I slip them in my freezer and flash freeze them (keep them in there till they are just frozen-about 30 min to 1 hour. Here they are, ready for the freezer.

Then, once they are frozen, I pull them out, remove them from the wax paper, and put them in a quart ziploc bag. If they are frozen enough, they won't stick to each other when you put them in the baggie. Theoretically, you could put all the rolls in one gallon freezer baggie and freeze them. I prefer to use 3 quart size, but that's just me.

Here is a set that's ready for the freezer. Now, let's talk about frosting. It's really easy to make. I prefer is the margarine is soft, not melted, for the frosting also. You'll need to add a small amount of warm water as you're mixing to get it to the consistency you want. I like my to have shape, but be spreadable (I'm not into making it pourable)

When the rolls come out of the oven, I immediately put some frosting on them so it melts and drips down inside the rolls, spreading the goodness everywhere! lol Once they are a little cooler, if I have some frosting left over, I put a little on top (that doesn't melt) because there is just something about seeing that white dreamy frosting on top that makes my mouth salivate even more (and I don't have to convince my kids that, yes, mommy really did put frosting on them even if you can't see it).

These are just from the oven, with the first frosting on them. Ok, so look at the previous picture and note the baggie with white stuff in it. Here's my other tip. Divide the remaining frosting up into three sandwich/or snack baggies (make sure it has a ziploc) on them. Now, freeze the frosting with the cinnamon roll dough you just put into baggies. So I end up with one set of baked rolls, and three sets (with frosting) in the freezer. Now I can enjoy rolls without the mess. I just spray my 8x11 glass dish, and put 8 frozen rolls in it. Cover with a thin cloth and let it raise. I think it will take a good 4 hours, but I don't mind as I'm not in the kitchen and there is no cleanup. Bake the same, 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Now, when you take your rolls out of the freezer, remove the frosting and let it sit at room temp. When the rolls come out of the oven, just snip a little (and I mean a little-maybe 1/4"-1/2") off one corner of the baggie. Then just squeeze the frosting onto the rolls and spread with a knife. You've just made your own disposable pastry bag. SOOOO easy!!! No mess!!!

Who wants to be in the kitchen when you're trying to finish costumes, decorate your trunk, finish your chili and get the kids dressed for trick-or-treating? I used to try and make the rolls that night (and it usually ended up being "beggar's night" too) so we'd have people stopping by the house to trick-or-treat and my kitchen would be a disaster with flour everywhere. Not anymore! I'm no longer panicking that my yeast is overflowing because I've already got them done! Yeah!!!

And my kids love it because we have them in the freezer, for easy access, if I need a FHE treat, or something to take to for compassionate service.