Anyone who regularly reads food blogs has heard of Pioneer Woman.  She’s been in the food blog scene for a long time and she has wrangled herself plenty of fans.  As I have been on a mission to find the most perfect cinnamon roll recipe, I thought I would try the one that fans of Pioneer Woman have stood by so steadfastly.

I am still on the mission for the perfect cinnamon roll.

Don’t get me wrong, these are very good.  There were elements to the recipe that I enjoyed, but overall, I think this is just another over-hyped recipe that is not bad, but not worthy of the big O.

And as a warning, this recipe is ridiculously huge.  Half it if you want a normal-sized batch that can be eaten within a week.  My half yielded two 9-inch pans full.

The following recipe is adapted from The Pioneer Woman:

• 4 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tsp instant yeast
• 9 cups of flour (1 cup separated)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1.5 sticks of butter (at least, to your taste)
• Cinnamon

1. Mix milk, oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan.  Scald the mixture and let it cool to a lukewarm temperature, around 105 degrees.
2. Then, add the yeast, stir, and let it sit for about ten minutes.
3. In the largest bowl known to man, measure and dump into it the 8 cups of flour.  Then, add the milk mixture and stir.
4. Add the 8 cups of flour.  Go ahead and stir a little to get the dough moistened, but don’t try to stir this completely.  If you have a mixer, use your dough hook.  If not, I recommend turning the dough out onto a countertop and kneading it all together.  It’s SO much dough, that working the dough by hand is strongly recommended.
5. Once the dough is combined, place in a large bowl, plastic bucket, or proofing container, and let the dough rise for about an hour.

1. Turn the dough out, and add the baking soda, salt, and extra flour.  I didn’t need the extra cup of flour because its winter, my kitchen was dry, and adding it would have made the dough ridiculously tough.  Only add the flour if your dough feels wet and is sticking all over the place.
2. Let the dough rest, covered, 20 minutes.  Resting the dough makes it SO MUCH EASIER to roll out.
3. Divide the dough in half,  letting one half sit covered.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the other half into a large rectangle, or something resembling a rectangle shape.

1. Drizzle with about 1/2 cup of melted butter.  Brush it all over the surface with a pastry brush if needed.
2. Sprinkle with a generous amount of white sugar, followed by a generous amount of cinnamon.
3. Then, begin the rolling.  You want it to roll up in a log the long way, not the short way.  Roll the dough tightly, so that it tends to stick together, forming a nice roll.
4. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
5. Slice the rolls.  I highly recommend that you see my video on the easiest way in the world to cut cinnamon rolls.

1. Place the rolls in greased pans and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

While the cinnamon rolls are baking, make the frosting.  This was actually my favorite part of the recipe, mostly because I’ve never tried a maple frosting with cinnamon rolls.  It’s a tasty option and I will certainly try this again.

• 1 bag powdered sugar (use your judgment on this one, but you need a lot, and one bag is two pounds)
• 2 -3 tsp of maple flavoring
• 1/2 milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup brewed coffee (cold)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional – I preferred this frosting when I added this of my own volition)

Mix it all thoroughly in a mixer.  It should be a thick consistency, almost like syrup, but heavier.  You want to be able to just pour it out of the mixing bowl, and it should be free of lumps.

Pour the frosting over the rolls immediately after you remove them from the oven.

Enjoy!