Cinnamon swirls in every bite!

I have never been a patient person, which explains why, every time I attempted to make cinnamon rolls from scratch, I would inevitably mess them up.

Last night, however, was different.

I had enough homework and MCAT studying to get done that I was able to allow the dough to rise and the caramel sauce to reduce in peace. And, as I found out this morning, waiting to let the glaze soak in overnight only makes them better. I don't know if these rolls were enough to make me a more patient person, but now I at least realize the sweet, sweet result of said virtue.

Here they are, unglazed:

And in all their glazed glory:

Mmmmmm.

The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls 

(A miniature adaptation)

• Since, unlike Ree, I don't have an entire cattle ranch to feed (just six hungry girls in an apartment), I only made 1/4 of the recipe. Pretty sure I shouldn't have gotten this many rolls, but they're way cute-- about the size of the bottom of a drinking glass. I also did my own take on a glaze, since we were running low on milk and didn't have powdered sugar in the apartment.

For the rolls:

• 1/2 pint Whole Milk
• 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp  Active Dry Yeast
• 2 cups (Plus 1/4 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour (I used whole wheat-- made them a bit chewy)
• 1/4 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Melted Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• Cinnamon

For the glaze:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Rolls:

Heat the milk, sugar, and oil over medium heat (NOT TO BOILING!). Let cool a bit, then sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir in the majority of the flour, cover, and let sit in a warm place for an hour. Then add the last of the flour, the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Roll out to 1/4". Spread melted butter over dough, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, and roll towards you to form a log. Slice log every inch or so, and place into greased dish. Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes.

Sauce:

Heat sugar and water over medium heat to make a simple syrup. Let boil until carmelized, stirring as neccesary to keep it from boiling over. After the syrup has reduced to half the original volume (about 30 minutes), add milk and vanilla, and repeat boiling and management for another half an hour. Pour over hot cinnamon rolls, and allow to cool a bit before biting in (unless you want a cinnamony burnt roof of your mouth). Even better if you let them sit overnight.

They didn't last long.