The Pioneer Woman Cooks (12 page)

10. Transfer to a cutting board and with a sharp knife, make 1½-inch slices. One log will produce 20 to 25 rolls.

11. Pour a couple of tablespoons of melted butter into the desired pie pans or baking dishes and swirl to coat.

12. Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to over-crowd.

13. Repeat the rolling/sugar/ butter process with the other half of the dough and more pans.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cover the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 20 minutes before baking. Remove the towel and bake for 13 to 17 minutes, until golden brown. Don’t allow the rolls to become overly brown.

While the rolls are baking, make the maple icing!

14. In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt.

15. Splash in the maple flavoring.

16. Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter, or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency. The icing should be thick but still pourable.

17. When the rolls come out of the oven, notice the gooey filling inside. Mmmm. At this point, your kitchen is by far the best-smelling place on earth. You could sell tickets.

18. While the rolls are still warm, generously drizzle icing over the top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top.

19. As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing’s moisture and flavor. They only get better with time…not that they last for more than a few seconds!

Make them for a friend today! It’ll seal the relationship for life. I promise.

Variations

• Add finely chopped pecans to the rolls after sprinkling on the cinnamon and sugar.
  
• Substitute 8 tablespoons of orange marmalade and 1 cup brown sugar (per half batch of dough) for the cinnamon and white sugar, then substitute orange juice for the maple and coffee in the icing.
  

• HELPFUL HINTS: Cinnamon rolls can be frozen in the pan, unbaked. Just cover them tightly with foil after you place them in the pan but before they rise. Then, when you’re ready to bake, allow them to thaw and rise before baking. Ice as directed.
  

  An easier method is simply to freeze the baked, iced cinnamon rolls after they’ve cooled slightly. Then just pull them out of the freezer and warm them in a 250ºF oven for 15 minutes. I stock up my freezer with cinnamon rolls before the holidays begin, and I’m always so glad I do.
  

  

INY’S PRUNE CAKE WITH BUTTERMILK ICING

Makes one 9 x 13-inch cake

I was fortunate enough to happen upon my great-grandmother Iny’s prune cake recipe a couple of years ago. It was written by her frail, small hands, and I rushed out to buy the ingredients the same day. Marlboro Man will never eat this, I thought later that day, as I mashed up the cooked prunes according to Iny’s instructions. Anything with the word prune in it, I reasoned, would be instantly marked off the list.

Claire Kennedy

Marlboro Man returned from working cattle a little while later and noticed the warm cake sitting on the kitchen counter. Before I had a chance to tell him what it was, he’d cut himself a big piece and gobbled it up. Then he gobbled up another piece. Then he had more for dessert that night.

Since then, I’ve made this cake more than a dozen times, and have never let my dear husband in on the ingredients. And today, I’m tired of living that lie.