Sam's Place: October 2016

Maple Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

I do love sweets and these Maple Cinnamon Rolls are a perfect fit. After Fran and I had our children we started a family tradition of having cinnamon rolls every Christmas morning. Even now that our kids have grown up and have their own families we still carry on that tradition.

Every year we buy Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls and pop them in the oven on Christmas morning. All these years I've never tried to make my own cinnamon rolls from scratch before. Yesterday I decided to practice and give it a try.

As you can see from the picture my practice run at this was a huge success. These maple cinnamon rolls are melt in your mouth delicious. After making these there will be no more store bought cinnamon rolls for me, not that Pillsbury doesn't make a delicious cinnamon, roll I'm now hooked on homemade.

I made these in three stages the dough, filling, and the icing following is how I managed all of this.

The Dough:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon honey

I mixed the warm water and yeast in my you guessed my KitchenAid mixing bowl. Next in a small pan combined the milk and butter, bring this to a boil and remove it from the heat to cool.

While the milk and butter cooled I beat the two eggs in a small bowl and added the salt and honey to the warm water and yeast. Now add the milk to the water and yeast, and then add the sugar.

I began to add the flour one cup at a time while the mixer was on low speed. After the dough is formed, knead it on a floured surface a few times and put back in bowl cover it and let rise. While the dough was rising I mixed my filling in another bowl.

The Filling:

1/2 cup butter melted (To be brushed on the dough)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
Raisins or chopped nuts (Optional)

Mix the two sugars and cinnamon in the bowl and reserve the butter to brush on the dough later. Roll out the dough to about 16 inches by 10 inches and brush it with the melted butter. I didn't use all of the melted butter so you may have some left over.

I covered the dough with the filling saving a little for the top of rolls after I sliced them. Roll the dough into a log pinch the ends together then carefully cut one-inch slices.

I prepared a 13" x 9" glass baking dish by brushing the bottom with melted butter and sprinkling it with sugar. Place the rolls into the baking dish close together I got 16 rolls in the baking dish.

Cover the baking dish and them rise for about 30 minutes. Now sprinkle the remaining filling on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes on the middle rack.

Maple Cinnamon Roll Icing

4 tablespoons softened or melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon Maple extract or Vanilla (I used Maple)
5 tablespoons milk (room temperature)

Whisk or mix together until combined and it looks like a glaze. After they come out of the oven let them cool just a bit and then spoon on the icing.

You can make these ahead of time after you slice them you freeze these delightful cinnamon rolls and have them whenever you want. These are great for breakfast or anytime treat.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!

Top Rated Bellemain Stainless Steel Non-Slip Mixing Bowls with Lids,

KitchenAid KHM512ER 5-Speed Ultra Power Hand Mixer, Empire Red

Pyrex Basics Clear Oblong Glass Baking Dishes, 2 Piece Value

Here is your shopping list. Have it all delivered right to your door.

Pillsbury Best All Purpose Flour, 5 lb.

Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast, 3 pk, 0.75 oz Packet

Domino Sugar, Granulated, 4LB Canister

Nature Nate's 100% Pure, Raw and Unfiltered Honey, 32 Ounce

Domino Premium Pure Cane Light Brown Sugar, 1 lb

Simply Organic Ground Cinnamon, 2.08 Ounce

Sun Maid Natural California Raisins, 4.5-Pounds Package

FISHER Chef’s Naturals Chopped Walnuts, 32 Ounce

I'm always in the mood for pizza, especially if I'm making my own. There is just something special about making pizza with fresh ingredients. This is an easy fresh spinach pizza recipe.

Get my fresh dough recipe from my older post here: How to Make Homemade Pizza. This recipe yields me about three smaller pizzas or two large ones.

So I whipped up the batch of dough in my KitchenAid stand mixer and was waiting for it to rise. Fran knew we had some fresh tomato, baby spinach, fresh mozzarella, and feta cheese in the refrigerator. We always like to experiment with fresh ingredients, and pizza is so versatile that way you can use just about anything you want.

Here is what we used and how we made this fresh spinach pizza. The amount will depend on your taste. We really didn't measure anything we just added these fresh ingredients as we went along.

Easy Homemade Pizza Recipe:

Roll out the dough in your pizza pan and brush it will olive oil
Next, add fresh sliced tomatoes, enough to cover the dough
Layer on some fresh feta cheese
Now add some fresh baby spinach all over the top
Add some sliced mozzarella
Sprinkle fresh basil and some Italian seasoning
Season to your taste with garlic, salt, and pepper.

Our pizza ready to go in the oven

I preheated the oven to 450 degrees and baked this on the middle rack for 16 minutes. Then moved the pizza to the bottom rack for another 3 minutes just to make sure the bottom was golden brown.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!