Baking Friday - Bread # 12

So it's "Friday", right?

No, no, Deb, it's not.  It is Christmas Eve, so it feels like a Friday - the day before something bigger and funner, but it's not Friday.

Sigh.

Ok, so let me begin again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Truly, I hope that this finds each of you well and full of family and good friends and good food and love and joy, celebrating the Gift of the Incarnation.  We have been celebrating and preparing just about non-stop since two weekends ago.  It has been fun, and I will post more about that later, but that is why I haven't gotten this Baking Friday - Bread # 12 done until now.  I have 12 days off from work, so I am hoping to get good and caught up on posting during this time!  If you get a quiet moment and want to catch up with me/us, I hope you stop by again.

So...our Bread # 12.  Our final bread of 2014.  Christmas bread.  What says Christmas morning more quintessentially than Cinnamon Rolls?

Probably nothing.  Unless it might be Caramel Rolls....

Or really what says Christmas more than BOTH???!!!

I LOVE cinnamon rolls.  And I LOVE caramel rolls.  And I LOVE Christmas, so why choose one or the other?  I say BOTH.  Yes, definitely BOTH!!

The recipe couldn't be easier.  It is my go-to Soft White Dinner Roll recipe from KAF that I roll and fill and turn into cinnamon / caramel rolls.  If you have a Kitchen Aid, you don't even have to knead the dough unless you just really want to and enjoy that feel of the dough in your hands - or you have some Christmas shopping aggression that you need to let out!  To make the two 9 x 13 pans you see above, I did a double recipe.  That makes about 32 rolls - 13 for each of these pans (a baker's dozen!) and 6 for G to enjoy for his breakfast that morning - or more like a couple of mornings.  These reheat nicely even in the microwave as long as you don't go too long in the microwave.  They are soft and buttery and cinnamony and sweet and wonderful to enjoy with family while opening presents!  You could bake them the night before (would that be tonight?) and not ice them and then reheat them in the morning at 350 for about 15 minutes, OR you can shape them and let them hang out in the pan overnight to finish rising in the morning before baking.  People get a little scared of yeast doughs and feel like they take so much time.  Yes, they take some rising time, but yeast can be fairly forgiving.  It is a living thing that continues to eat sugars in the dough until you bake it, so as long as you don't go too long or too many risings, chances are good you will have a finished product that your family will enjoy while still being able to work with the dough around your schedule.  I find yeast breads to give me a sense of accomplishment while also being a great way to give my family a loving treat.

One Deb Disclaimer - one taste tester said that the Caramel Rolls were not as good as the ones that her grandmother made.  What can I say?  I can't compete with grandmother memories.  I just can't.  But if you are the grandmother making memories for your grand kids or you're not competing with grandmother memories, then you will probably find these good and satisfying.

Ready for our final bread recipe for 2014?  Here we go!

The roll ingredients as shown in the above link are these:

1 packet yeast (2-1/4 t. of yeast if you buy it in the jar)
7/8 to 1-1/8 cup warm water (more in winter, less in summer so I used 1-1/8 cup)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 t. salt
3 T. sugar
6 T soft butter
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes

I dump all of these ingredients into the Kitchen Aid with the dough hook and let the Kitchen Aid work its magic!  If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook, it will take you a bit more time and energy, but there is no special order to mixing the ingredients.  Just work them into a smooth dough.

Then you set it in a greased bowl (or the Kitchen Aid bowl just like it is), cover it with a tea towel and let it rise until double and puffy.  I let it rise twice, and I like the results a bit better with a second rise, but it works great with only a single rise, too.

Now for the fun part!  Let's begin with the caramel glaze.

1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 T. corn syrup
2 T. maple syrup
Dash of vanilla
Dash of salt

Combine all of these and place in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan.

I simply greased the 2nd pan for the cinnamon rolls.

Then I made the filling.  I used the same filling for both pans.

1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 T. cinnamon (or to taste)
Dash salt
1/2 t. vanilla powder (optional)

I mixed all of these together until they formed a paste. (Remember I did a double recipe so things in the pic may appear larger than they are and all that...)

Now I started rolling the dough into a large rectangle.  (I didn't measure the size, but it was about 1/8" thick when done.)

Now it was time to smear on the cinnamon filling paste.

I just globbed it on the dough and then started spreading with my offset spatula before starting to roll the rectangle into a log from the far side.

I try to seal the log fairly well at the end by pinching as I go.

I find it easiest to slice the dough by using my pastry bench tool, but some folks like to use just a knife or even dental floss.  Here is what I did...split the 1 log into 4...

...and then each of those into 8 rolls.

I laid them in the prepared pans...

..and..

...and then I went back to bed for a while.  But you will plan your time much better and not shape in the middle of the night, I'm sure!  But look at the yeast magic while I slept!

Ready for the oven!!!  I baked at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes or until classically golden brown and the house smelled like Christmas!

For the caramel rolls, I laid a foil lined pan over the top and quickly flipped the whole thing over so that the caramel goodness would be on the top.

Was I successful?  Would this work?  Or would I end up with a sticky mess and have to try and piece it all back together?  Drum roll please....brbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbbr.....

SUCCESS!

Now for the cinnamon rolls, I know that LOTS of people like to use a cream cheese icing on them, but I never had before, so I thought I would try it this time.  I used just my standard cream cheese icing, and while these were good, I will go back to my standard glaze next time.  I found it to just be ok, but icing can be a somewhat personal taste thing.  I guess I land in the glaze camp, but I tried the cream cheese route, cause I was curious.

Yum!  I may have to put together another batch during this time off!  I'm hungry for them again!

And with that, our 2014 bread journey comes to a close.  We began with scones - chocolate and vanilla.

We shared gingerbread and bread pudding.

We had an orange cream cheese braid in the Springtime....

...followed by simple tea scones with lemon curd and raspberry jam for Mother's Day.

Father's Day brought us sausage and BACON biscuits with gravy!

And the 4th of July was "patriotic" with Danishes!  Or...er...something like that...red, white and blue, at least!

What could be more summer time than pretzel dogs?

Or pizza made with fresh from the garden tomatoes and basil?

We shared herby, delicious fococcia sandwiches...is anyone else's mouth watering or it is just me?

By the Fall, we had Monkey Bread...

...Chocolate croissants...

...and finally Apples and Cinnamon Brioche braid...

...and Cinnamon rolls to finish!

It's been a fun bread journey!  Thank you for joining me on it!  One more Baking Friday for 2014 - for our last cookie - and this journey will be done.

Except that this is me.  Deb.  I will have one more wrap up post with a good Top 10 list to truly close out our baking venture!  Hope you stop by again!

And no matter what...MERRY!  MERRY!  CHRISTMAS!!!