Cookin’ the Book: Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls

My husband prefers to avoid simple carbohydrates in general, and baked goods specifically, so cinnamon rolls are something I would not normally put on the menu around here.  As such, I’ve been eyeing this particular recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks with apprehension.  There simply is NO good time to make it in our house, from a dietary perspective!  That being said, I’m working my way through the cookbook, trying to make each item by June 2010, so I decided to just get it over with during the holidays when suspect dietary choices are encouraged!  :)
It’s funny that I have made many breads, puff pastry, and tons of other so-called fancy foods, but never the humble cinnamon roll.  I’ve tried Cinnabon at an airport and have to admit I really didn’t think it was worth the fuss.  There was too much bread to it, and the icing tasted like sugar and nothing else.  All in all, I chalked cinnamon rolls in the category of foods that sound better than they are in reality.
I can find NOTHING to complain about in the finished product with this recipe.  It’s really very easy to make!  The filling is gooey and satisfying, and the glaze/frosting is still mostly sugar, but with a couple of additions that make it sublime.

I made a half recipe, and while that’s sometimes tricky with baking--the chemistry of the culinary world--this recipe divides in halves so evenly that it works.  Plus, then I had less rolls to force my daughter to take around the neighborhood and get them OUT of my house!  I like to do that: make foods of dubious nutritional value, then pawn them off on other, skinnier people.  Win-win for me, ha!
I see making these to share at a swim meet, or to bring to a pot luck style event earlier in the day, or baking them in disposable pie tins and giving batches away as gifts.  What I am saying is, these are best shared.  Then let the accolades pile up, because they are that good!  You can find the recipe and photos instructing their preparation HERE.