Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting

My mom was a “lunch lady” for 20 years. She was the resident baker (as opposed to what I envision as the much-less-glamorous salad maker) at River Road Elementary for half this time. Her responsibilities included regularly making huge batches of rolls and cinnamon rolls. Rumor has it that more than one custodian or teacher would sneak into the cafeteria in the early morning hours to procure a freshly baked cinnamon roll. I can’t imagine anyone being able to resist that yeasty, buttery, cinnamon aroma wafting down the school corridors. It’s not surprising that my mom’s cinnamon rolls were in high demand, as her proficiency with cinnamon rolls began long before the school cafeteria. Cinnamon rolls covered in maple frosting are forever imprinted in my four siblings’ and my childhood memories. On the days when my mom would make bread, she would spend what seemed like all day in the kitchen rolling dough, punching it down, and forming pans of dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls. I remember this being one of my favorite dinners—buttery (in those days it was Nucoa) rolls with a pot of homemade chili. We would wait patiently all day for the decadent cinnamon rolls to come out of the oven for dessert. With seven of us, they went quickly, but I remember enjoying them even more for breakfast the next day. 

My cinnamon roll rules

I have two unbreakable rules for cinnamon rolls. First, they must have maple frosting. And second, there’s only one way to eat a cinnamon roll. You start on the outside edge and unroll it, eating it from the outside until you reach the super-cinnamony center. That’s the best part. Oh wait, rule #3. Absolutely no nuts or raisins polluting my cinnamon rolls! Cinnamon rolls aren’t cinnamon rolls unless they are like my mom’s. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my hands on her recipe—my grandma’s recipe—but I’m pretty sure that she used the same recipe for the dinner rolls (and maybe added sugar).

Choosing from all the cinnamon roll recipes

The thing that makes me the most nervous about cinnamon rolls is getting them to rise properly. Recipes that say dissolve yeast in “warm” water. What the heck is “warm”? I like to be a little more scientific and use my thermometer to make sure the water is between 105 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the dough in a “warm place” in your house … well it’s the middle of winter and even though my thermostat says 68 degrees, it doesn’t feel like that in my kitchen. I typically preheat the oven to 300 and place the pans on top of the stove to get some of that residual heat rising from the oven, turning them now and then. My mom says she used to turn the oven on low and open the door and set the rolls on the oven door. (Pretty sure my husband would consider this a safety-violation.) 

Anyhow, I went back and forth looking at cinnamon roll recipes (and ignored the people who said maple frosting didn’t belong on cinnamon rolls). I didn’t feel super confident in my grandma’s recipe. Not sure how success was had in the kitchen in the pre-Google days and without the detailed instructions, countless Instagram photos and videos that we have access to today. Or who knows, maybe it’s that we have too much information. In the end, I went with Ree Drummond’s recipe. Partly because she’s in the “maple frosting” camp and also because I only had “Active Yeast” rather than Rapid Rise yeast in the house, which many recipes required. 

Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls (half recipe)

For the dough:

16 oz. whole milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 package Active Dry Yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)

4 cups (Plus ½ cup extra, separated) All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon (heaping) baking powder

1 teaspoon (scant) baking soda

1 Tablespoon (heaping) kosher salt

For rolling:

Plenty Of Melted Butter

1 cup sugar

Cinnamon

Maple frosting:

1 1b bag Powdered Sugar 

½ Tablespoon Maple Extract

1/4 cup whole milk

1/8 cup melted butter (2 Tbs)

1/8 cup brewed coffee

1/4 teaspoon salt

After forming the rolls, The Pioneer Woman says to let them rise in the pan for at least 20 minutes. I’m here to tell you that I let them rise a good hour. After 20 minutes they hadn’t done much. So, yes, patience is required. I halved her recipe and ended up with 16 really large cinnamon rolls. These were delicious, but honestly, I don’t think they needed as much sugar as the recipe says. It’s easiest to eyeball the amount of sugar and cinnamon and just sprinkle until you’re satisfied. Some recipes call for brown sugar apparently because that makes it less gritty, so I did half granulated and half brown. Not sure I could tell the difference. 

The secret cutting technique - from my fisherman Sous Chef

It’s not that cinnamon rolls are that difficult, but they definitely take planning and patience. I’d also read from several bloggers and bakers to use dental floss to cut or slice your rolls. I searched through my bathroom drawer and had about six half-used containers of “mint” floss. Not going to work. When I mentioned this to my husband, he said, “Oh I have some 20 lb. monofilament medium stiffness fishing line that will work perfectly” and proceeded to retreat to the garage and come back with a long piece. Ha. It worked beautifully. I received beyond-ordinary satisfaction and delight out of slicing the rolls this way. But you can use a knife if you must.

Here's another picture to make your mouth water.

I shared these with the young neighbor kids next door (and was worried that they would be up all night on a sugar high and their mom would never talk to me again) and put the rest in the freezer for my next visitors. In the meantime, I’m still searching for my Mom’s/Grandma’s recipe but thinking that I may be willing to break Rule #1 (maple frosting) and try The Vanilla Bean Blog cinnamon rolls. Her recipe was recently featured in The Kitchn as the big winner! These seem a little more complicated, but the addition of honey and eggs (and no oil) sounds better. Also, Joanna Gaines has an interesting recipe for Cinnamon Squares in the first edition of Magnolia Table. I want to try these … but, dang, I’d have to break Rule #2 (how do you unroll a square?) and Rule #3 (no raising or nuts). Who am I kidding? I’m gonna trust the lunch lady. No nuts or raisins. And maple frosting for all.