Why do I love Sundays soooo much? Homemade warm rolls for dinner with extra dough for cinnamon rolls. So I kill 2 birds with one stone. And it makes Monday morning breakfast so easy. (In my old age, I actually have gotten smarter!). So today we had for dinner...fettucine & meatballs with homemade pasta sauce(which I make about 16 qts at a time..freeze the rest), homemade rolls, salad, & peas. Dessert was a THROW together concoction....No Bake Amaretto Cheese Pie. So let me share today's recipes..well rolls and dessert anyway.
PLEASE keep in mind..RARLEY and I mean RARLEY do I ever make anything from a box. So this time, I cheated.
No Bake Amaretto Cheese Pie
2 Cups plain animal crackers finely crushed
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
3 small boxes J-ello cheesecake instant pudding mix
2 cups milk
8 oz Cool Whip
2 TB Amaretto Italian Syrup
Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix crumbs, sugar, & butter. Press into a pie plate. Oh yes! Feel free to buy a prepared graham cracker or chocolate crust instead. Anyway, bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool completely!
Mix remaining ingredients together and beat (if you have whisk attachment, use that instead) for about a minute. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate for an hour.
MY Dinner Rolls/Cinnamon Dough Recipe
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, cut into smaller pieces.
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 TB yeast
2 eggs
4 cups flour
Place milk, butter, & salt in microwave bowl. Microwave about 1.5 minutes (that's 1 minute 30 seconds). Stir to make sure salt is dissolved. Set aside and let cool for a about 45 minutes. This needs to be LUKE WARM.
Add yeast, stir until dissolved. Set aside for about 5 minutes or until yeast gets bubbly (you need the salt to feed the yeast to make it work).
Place 2 cups of flour in your kitchen aid bowl along with the sugar. Using your blade attachment, mix for a second to incorporate. Add yeast mixture. Mix well. Add eggs. Mix well.
Remove blade and add kneader attachment. Add remaining flour. Mix until all is incorporated and the dough is smooth yet still a little sticky.
Cover with plastic wrap (you need this to keep the gas in to help expand the dough). I also cover with a towel to keep it warm.
Let rise for about an hour, hour and a half - needs to double in size. Punch down. Knead a little (you can do this in the bowl). Cover again with plastic wrap and towel. Let rise again - oh, about an hour or so. Punch down again, form your rolls*. Pace in prepared pan (greased - but I always use parchment paper). I put 9 rolls in a 9x9 pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel. Let rise - oh about 45 minutes to an hour. Now it is FINALLY time to bake.
Preheat oven - 350°F. Bake for about 12 to 16 minutes, until golden brown. NOW..now the time has come...ENJOY!
OK..form your dough..I make this easy. I roll into strips about 2 inches in diameter and cut into about 1 1/5 to 2 inch lengths. You can rolls thinner logs and make knots...oh the places you can go. Oops! That's another story...sorry.
Cinnamon Rolls - cut dough into two halves (easier to handle). Roll each into a rectangle. Brush on soft butter. Then sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll, starting from narrow end of rectangle. Cut into 6 to 8 pieces. To make life easier, I bake mine in muffin tins. Put each piece in a cupcake liner (spray liners with pan spray...trust me!) I use a jumbo muffin tin. Let double, bake about 15-18 minutes. Or you can use a round pan, whatever, put place about 1 1/2 inches apart. When cooled a bit, ice with a mixture of powdered sugar, milk, a dash of vanilla. Serve warm or wait until morning & microwave!
So, tomorrow morning, you can just guess what my children will be having for breakfast!~ Yep! Cereal. Oh, just kidding. Nice warm delicious cinnamon rolls.
