sweet smell of cinnamon rolls

     First of all for the record...  Hi, I'm Gwyn and I'm a cinnamon roll-aholic!  Annnnd all together now... Hi Gwyn!  Haha okay, just making sure we're all in the right place!!  Alrighty, I have been on a mission to create the best ooey goey, cinnamon filled slice of heaven you've ever tasted.  As I think back upon the many cinnamon rolls I have enjoyed over the years, my mind often wanders to my sweet childhood friend in Casper, Wyoming.  Her mom made the best cinnamon rolls, I tell ya.  If I close my eyes and breathe in slowly, I can still smell the aroma drifting down the stairs into the basement.  Needless to say we took them two at a time in order to savor those first couple rolls fresh from the oven!  Oh the memories... Ok... eyes back open and back to reality!  In my not so humble opinion, I believe the secret ingredient to these amazing cinnamon rolls... is mashed potatoes!  You heard correctly... I said potatoes!  How can you go wrong combining yummy mashed potatoes with dough?  A true match made in heaven!

Timeless Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Rolls:
1 cup mashed potatoes - do not salt the potatoes
1 cup potato water (scoop out a cup of potato water before you drain the potatoes!)
3/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup hot water
2 packages of yeast
1/2 cup warm water (100 - 110 degrees F, to dissolve yeast)
2 eggs
8 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour (I don't know why plus 2 T., it just works!)

Filling:
1 cup melted butter, plus more if needed
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup ground cinnamon

Maple Icing:
These are "approximate" measurements.
1 pound powdered sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (pancake or waffle syrup works just dandy!)
3 Tablespoons melted butter
Milk for thinning if needed

For the Dough:

Combine potatoes, potato water, butter, sugar, salt and hot water in a large mixing bowl.  Set aside to cool.  Combine yeast and 1/2 cup warm water in a small bowl.  Let rest so the yeast can get going, about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs, 2 cups of flour and yeast mixture to potato mixture.  Beat until well mixed.  I use my big girl mixer with the dough hook attachment but you can do this by hand.  Get ready to use your muscles!  Continue adding flour, one cup at a time, until a soft dough forms.  Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes), or use your big girl mixer!  Place the dough in a clean greased bowl, then cover.  You won't want to stop playing with this dough, it is soooo soft and supple!  Big girl play dough!  Let the dough rise and do its thing in a warm cozy place for an hour.  Laundry?  The dryer is a perfect place for the dough to do its magic!  Get ready!  This dough poofs up big time!  After an hour get your fist ready and punch down!  Divide dough in half.

Roll one portion of dough on a lightly floured surface to an approximate 12" x 18" rectangle.  Now for the oh so good goodness...  Spread 1/2 of the melted butter over the dough.  Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly over the dough.  Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  Spread the sugar mixture over the dough.  At this time the sweet smell of cinnamon will start filling up your kitchen!  Now it's time to roll the dough.  Drumroll please...  Beginning at the end farthest from you, start rolling towards you keeping the dough as tight as possible.  When you reach the end, pinch the seam together.  I use a serrated knife to cut the dough in 1 1/2" slices.  I eyeball the log before I make the first cut and cut the log in half, then I cut in half again.  This gives me 4 mini logs.  Next, I cut 3 rolls from each log.  I have found my rolls seem to bake more evenly if I bake 6 rolls in a pan.  So I use round pie pans or aluminum pie pans for baking my rolls.  Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and swish around the pan and place the cinnamon rolls in the buttery pans.  Cover the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise for at least 20 minutes.  More laundry?  Once again the dryer is a great place for the rolls to hang out!  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Remove the towel and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.  Don't allow the rolls to become too brown.

While the rolls are baking and filling up your kitchen with the most heavenly fragrance, use this time to prepare the maple icing!  In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup and butter.  This is where you have to use your best judgement.  As you mix you may need to add a little milk to get the consistency you want.  If you get it too thin, no worries, add more powdered sugar!

Once the rolls come out of the oven, I let them cool about 10 minutes before I add the icing.  Remember those ooey goey cinnamon rolls I mentioned earlier?  Now's the time to drizzle or spread the icing all over them!  And guess what?  These rolls freeze beautifully.  After you frost the rolls and they have completely cooled, you can pop them in the freezer.  I put the pan and all in a gallon freezer bag.  When you are ready for a fresh pan, pull them out of the freezer and allow to thaw about 15 minutes.  Pop in a 250 degree F oven for about 15 minutes.  Yum yum!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and it takes you back to a wonderful memory.  It's not so much of what we eat, but the memory of what we have eaten!

Another big shout out to my dear friend nelougrace.com for her expert advice, support and editing!

Enjoy!