As I write this post I am receiving the world’s best Mother’s Day present: my husband is cleaning the bathrooms! I was about to tackle this task, but he offered to give me a break this week. The only problem? He doesn’t know how to clean a bathroom! The solution? My blog post on cleaning bathrooms using nothing more than vinegar and castile soap: The Homemade Way to Clean the Loo. I find it so charming and endearing that Chris tries so hard to be a Homemade Father.

Aside from sparking bathrooms courtesy of my husband, today has been a very nice celebration of motherhood. My siblings and I arranged a Mother’s Day potluck brunch at my sister Meghan’s house. Meghan made breakfast strata, Caitie brought delicious broiled tomatoes, Colleen prepared a big fruit salad, Wes brought Mimosa fixin’s, and I made a Strawberry & Chocolate Shortbread Tart for dessert. My parents provided a tray of breakfast meats that made all the men in attendance very happy. It was a very nice, casual gathering. Everything was made from scratch, just as our mother taught us. We all agreed that no restaurant could have offered a better spread!

I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade cinnamon rolls from The Pioneer Woman a few weeks ago and I immediately forwarded it to my sister Meghan as she is very talented when it comes to preparing pastries and sweets. I not-so-secretly hoped she would make it for an occasion that I’d be attending! Fortunately, she decided to make it for today’s brunch. The rolls were a huge hit! I caught little Evelyn helping herself to seconds and thirds and fourths…

The Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

MAPLE FROSTING:
1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Melted Butter
¼ cups Brewed Coffee
⅛ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.