Go Big Or...

For me, and maybe for others, it just seems I have days when breakfast seems like the perfect meal, no matter what time of day. Waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, orange juice, you name it... it all seems to hit the right spot. Cinnamon rolls also always seem to be a staple at breakfast time. I have two great memories of cinnamon rolls. The first being my grandmother. Breakfast was always a grazing process at her house; as a feast was made with every meal and breakfast was no exception. With these breakfast feasts salt was always the main flavor then you ended with just a kiss of sweetness from the canned pillsbury cinnamon rolls, orange cinnamon rolls, those are my dad's favorite. Orange cinnamon rolls seemed to be the dessert of breakfast. My mom also has a version and uses my great grandmother, Ga-ga's, cinnamon roll recipe. These are different in that they are more of a cinnamon biscuit, light and airy with less sweetness, more spice and showed up around Sunday afternoon. These rolls were a meal all to their own. Each one of these rolls are unique to themselves but each one allows me to have a special memory with different family members. Growing up my mom always encouraged us to be creative, find ways to use our talents, and always be willing to be true to ourselves. Baking has always been a fun outlet for me, it allows me to be creative, think outside of the box and experiment with new ideas. I wanted to find/create a recipe that brought these two memories together, a marriage of flavors and textures. During this process my original thought was to make a cupcake that consisted of a cinnamon roll taste but in cake form. However, I could never settle on the right formula, the right dough, and I ended up with a recipe that put a cinnamon roll into a cupcake liner, creating the perfect sized roll to enjoy. I altered a Paula Deen recipe from her website for the rolls and she surely spares no expenses when it comes to baking. Every turn there is butter and sugar and these cinnamon rolls are a testament to the statement that sometimes bigger can be better. These orange cinnamon rolls are plump, gooy, delicious and make enough to share for weeks. These rolls gave me the feeling of homemade goodness combined with just the right amount of pillsbury's sticky sweetness.

ORANGE CINNAMON ROLLS

ROLL

2 cups 2% milk

1 tbs dry active yeast

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

In a saucepan or microwave, warm milk to about 110 degree Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar into the milk.

Add salt and two cups of flour and beat for two minutes.

Beat in eggs and butter.

Next stir in the remaining flour at half cup each time, and beat until well incorporated each time.

Flour a large surface area and your hands and place dough on top.

Knead dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Flour the bowl the dough came from and place dough back into bowl and cover with a towel.

Set the dough in a warm place and allow to rise for about 40 minutes - 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once dough has risen, flour a LARGE surface area for dough to be rolled out on.

Flour the rolling pin and begin to roll out dough until it is approximately 1/4" thick.

Allow to rest while working on filling.

FILLING

1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided and melted into two separate 1/4 cups

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tbs cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

1 orange

Fill two cup cake pans with cup cake liners (will make 24 rolls).

Zest 1 large orange into a large bowl and set aside.

Juice the zested orange into a small bowl and set side.

Melt only 1/4 cup butter and mix with the freshly juiced orange.

Using a pastry brush evenly spread the butter and orange mixture on top of the dough.

Next with the bowl the orange zest is in, mix in the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. 

Spread this mixture evenly on top of the dough (on top of the butter/orange mixture). Make sure there is     an empty one inch border left on all sides.

Tightly roll dough over itself, on the longest perimeter, back to front, so that a long log forms.

Slice the log into 24 even pieces.

Place each piece of log into a liner. You may have to work the log to fit into the liner, this can easily be done by folding the ends together to make a c and pushing into the liner. (Just channel Tim Gunn from Project Runway and think to yourself.. Make it work!)

Place cupcakes in a warm place and allow to rest for 30 - 40 minutes, they will continue to rise some.

While resting in a warm place, preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Remove from warm place and melt the remaining 1/4 cup and distribute evenly over each roll.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

ICING

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 package 8 oz cream cheese

1 lb. confectioner's sugar

While rolls are baking make icing.

Using an electric mixer whip butter and cream cheese until one smooth mixture.

Once smooth, slowly incorporate confectioner's sugar, there should be no lumps.

Heavily ice (as if you were icing a cupcake) the cinnamon rolls while they are still hot so that the icing melts (or microwave later to help icing melt) and enjoy!