12/23/2023
Who needs our Cinnamon Roll recipe???
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup mashed potatoes (unseasoned, no milk---just taters!)
1/2 cup milk (I use 1%)
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt
3 envelopes yeast (or about 3 Tablespoons)
5 1/2 - 6 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 T cinnamon
Frosting:
1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
1 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
milk as needed for consistency
Start by making sure your yeast is working by proofing the yeast, warm water, and a tablespooon of sugar in a small bowl. Let sit while getting the next step in the bowl. (if it doesn't bubble and get happy while you do this, you're best off starting over, as it won't rise).
IN a large mixing bowl, add vegetable oil, mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup sugar, egg, and 3 cups of the all purpose flour. Mix to combine then add your proofed yeast.
Then you will add the remaining flour gradually. At this point, I would add the salt to the first additional cup of flour. *If you add salt too early, it could kill the yeast, so adding it with the flour helps to keep it away from too much yeast. I usually mix this with a dough hook on my stand mixer. Once it gets too much for the mixer to handle, I turn it out on a floured board with additional flour handy to knead for a few minutes or until it feels soft and not sticky.
Place dough in a buttered large bowl to rise covered until it is double in size., about an hour Once it has risen, punch it down and transfer it to your lightly floured surface. Roll out so that it makes a rectangle about 15 x 12 inches. (Don't worry about being too precise!). Spread your softened butter over the rectangle surface and then sprinkle with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up lengthwise, making sure it is a tight roll, and when you get to the other side, pinch the seam together so no goodies fall out.
Now comes the slicing. You can make 8 large rolls or about 27 smaller size rolls. Use a serrated knife for this as it will make a cleaner cut. Slice and place in a greased pan with plenty of room for the next rise. This will probably take a number of pans. When I would make these at home, I'd make the smaller ones and use round disposable cake pans. They are a good thickness to handle the buns and I can get about 8 or so in each. Set them aside to rise, covered, for about another hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake rolls for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and yummy. Let cool.
For the frosting, just mix your soft butter with 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 pound of powdered sugar. You may need to add some milk to thin it out to a spreadable frosting consistency, so add just a tiny bit at a time---it takes less than you think!
Store frosting in refrigerator, but rolls can stay at room temp. To reheat, simply place a dollop of frosting on the roll, and microwave for about 20 seconds or until warm.
One last note: If you're wondering why there is mashed potato in the recipe, I can explain. It is an Amish tip. Potato is added to maintain freshness of the finished product as it helps hold on to moisture in the dough. It also provides starch giving the dough a bit more body. There is a science behind it, I just know it works. Growing up, my mother would make dinner rolls that also contained unseasoned mashed potatoes. They were honestly the best rolls I've ever had and we have continued the tradition with our kids. I'll be making those tomorrow for our Christmas dinner.
As always, if you have any questions about the recipe, let me know. I'm making a boatload of these today and I can answer your questions as I go along!
Merry Christmas to all and let's all look forward to great things in 2024!
=Sandy
