One-Hour Cinnamon Rolls

While I'm at home all the hours of the day now I want to learn new things. Most of my learn new things goals center around cooking and baking. I have never made cinnamon rolls, so on my birthday yesterday, I decided that was a good new thing to learn.

However, I also wanted rather immediate gratification since I decided this at 8 am. So I found this recipe for one-hour cinnamon rolls and they turned out wonderfully. There are a lot of other cinnamon roll versions out there that proof for a long time or require overnight resting and rising. Maybe one day I'll try those too. But if you want cinnamon rolls quickly, this is the recipe for you.

Homemade cinnamon rolls are really much easier than you might think. This is yet another example of thinking something is hard, and then being surprised when it's not! This recipe doesn't even require a mixer. I didn't use one, but you certainly could, especially if you want your mixer to do the kneading. After your dough has been kneaded, roll it out and then cover it with butter and cinnamon sugar.

Roll it up, slice it, and place in a pan. (Doesn't this make you want to sing "Patty cake, Patty cake, Baker's men!" ???)

Bake

and glaze,

and when your teenagers stumble out of their rooms after noon, they will be ecstatic to find this treat. (Note: for said teenagers, the rolls warm up nicely in the microwave -- about 20 seconds.)

What are your cooking and baking goals in this strange season?

Find more great ideas at Inspire Me, Inspire Me 2, Fabulous, Hearth and Soul, Tasty Tuesdays.


One-Hour Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Filling:
5 Tbsp. butter, melted, divided use
1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

Glaze:
1/4 cup warmed milk
2-3 cups powdered sugar

For the dough, in a large bowl, mix sugar, yeast, and oil with warm water until dissolved. Cover and let stand in warm place for 15 minutes. (Heat your oven to 170, turn it off, then put the bowl inside.)

Whisk eggs into the yeast mixture. Add salt to flour, then gradually add to yeast mixture to make a very soft dough. (You may not need all the flour; I had about 1/4 cup leftover which I used to flour my kneading surface.)

Knead dough for 5 minutes on lightly floured surface, or use the dough hook on your mixer. Roll dough into rectangular shape, about 1/4 inch thick.

Brush dough with melted butter, reserving 1 Tbsp. for the glaze. Combine cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over dough.

Roll up dough the long way and slice into 12. I first slice it in half, then half again, then in thirds to get 12 pieces. Place in a greased 9x13 pan. Let rest 10 minutes.

Bake at 425˚ for 12-17 minutes or until nice and brown on top--it's easy to under bake this recipe, so if you're unsure, bake for another minute or two.

Let the rolls cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, for the glaze, combine the warm milk with the reserved melted butter (it's ok that it's slightly solid now!) with a whisk. Add the powdered sugar gradually, whisking as you go. Add more powdered sugar as necessary to get the consistency that you like. Drizzle over the warm rolls and serve.

Recipe Source: Adapted from The Food Charlatan

Pork and Green Bean Stir Fry

I have many favorite things, but one of my very favorites is a simple meal with extraordinary flavor. That's what this stir fry is. This dish needs only a few ingredients to pack a flavor wallop. Besides flavor, it has a couple different textures (always a plus in my book) and lots of color from the gorgeous green beans. The "secret" to this dish is charring the green beans. Do you see the beautiful char? It adds so much flavor.

Unless you have the most gigantic pan ever, you will likely have to do this in batches, but don't worry, it is still extremely fast. Put some rice on to cook before you start the stir fry, or you may end up waiting! The secret to the char is to be patient - let the green beans sit in the hot pan without stirring it. That pretty much goes against the title of this recipe - STIR fry - but it will be worth it. As with all quick dishes, be sure you have all your ingredients chopped and ready to go before you start.

This was a huge hit with my family and we fought over the leftovers. I won. That's what happens when you can pull the "cook card."

Find more great stuff at Inspire Me, Inspire Me2, Fabulous, Hearth and Soul.

Pork and Green Bean Stir Fry

2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
2 tsp. sugar
2-3 tsp. chili garlic sauce
1 pound fresh green beans
2 1/2 Tbsp. sesame or peanut oil
4-6 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 pound ground pork (not sausage)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped


In a small bowl or measuring cup, combing the soy sauce, wine, sugar and chili garlic sauce. Whisk well and set aside.

Trim the green beans, then chop into 1" pieces. Heat 1/2 Tbsp. oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat until the oil smokes. Add a layer of green beans so they are covering the bottom of the skillet but are not overlapping. Leave for 1 minute. Stir, then let sit another 30 seconds. Repeat one or two more times until beans are charred but tender crisp (not withered and floppy). Remove to a bowl. Repeat this process until all the beans are charred (it took me three times with a pound of beans and a large skillet.)

Add the remaining 1 Tbsp oil to the pan, then add onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute until edges of onion are golden. Add mushrooms and cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Add pork and cook, breaking it up as you go. Cook for 2 minutes until the pork is cooked through, then whisk the sauce again and add it to the pan. Cook for 30 seconds, then add beans and stir for another 30 seconds.

Serve over rice or cauliflower rice.