Adventures in cinnamon rolls

My husband just loves anything with dough and anything sweet. His mom makes some serious cinnamon rolls, so I have set out to top them. Too bad he wasn't home to do the taste test, guess the 4 kids that are here will have to do!

In my looking for the perfect recipe (pinterest) I came across one that was almost perfect.  I used her recipe as a base and altered it slightly.  You can see Lydia's recipe HERE

 Cinnamon Pinwheel Buns
Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman Cooks
Makes 2 batches

Ingredients for rolls:
 2 cupsMilk
1/2 C Vegetable Oil
1/2 C Sugar
2 1/4 t Active Dry Yeast
4 1/2 C Flour
1/2 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 T Salt
1 Cup Butter, melted
 3 T Cinnamon
1 1/2 C Sugar

 Maple Icing:
 3 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
3 T Butter, melted
 1/4 C Milk
2 T Maple Syrup

♥ Gently heat the milk, oil and sugar over a medium heat then set aside to cool.
♥ When milk mixture is lukewarm sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit for a minute.
♥ Add 4 cups of flour to the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it is just combined.
♥ Cover with a tea towel and leave it to rise in a warm place (like in the window or hot water cupboard) for an hour.
♥ Once dough has risen, add baking powder, baking soda, salt and the rest of the flour and stir thoroughly to combine.
♥ Sprinkle some flour on a bench and roll out half the mixture into a large rectangle.
♥ Brush on a generous amount of butter over the dough.
♥ Sprinkle half the cinnamon over the entire dough surface followed by half of the sugar.

♥ Roll up the dough nice and tight and secure by pinching the edges together.
♥ Transfer your cinnamony dough log to a chopping board and cut into even pieces about 3cm wide. ♥ Repeat the process with the other lot of dough.
♥ Grease two cake tins with Pam and place sliced rolls inside, making sure not to over crowd them.
♥ Cover the tin with a tea towel again and let them sit for at least 20 minutes to rise again.
♥ Preheat oven to 375 and bake for 13 to 17 minutes until they are golden brown.
♥ While the buns are baking make the maple icing.

My two year old sat in front of the oven for at least 3 minutes just starting at them.  If you know toddlers, 3 minutes is like a lifetime!

Pour the icing over the rolls while still warm

They were seriously DELICIOUS!   And I just snagged a cold one, and it's still soft and gooey, almost just as good cold.  Almost, not quite, but almost.

I'd say today's been a good day.

Father's Day cards

Crackle background stamp, spritzed marker, made flag wrapped in twine, stamped sentiment, used Big Shot to cut it out, cut out sentiment in darker ink.

Used the Big Shot to emboss the lines, created a boy out of ribbon, stamped sentiment and cut out.

Used color spritzer tool and a marker on background, cut out multiple flags out of cardstock, stamped image, cut out, used crop-o-dile for eyelets and twine.

Used patterned paper to make corners and as background, sanded paper. Stamped sentiment on paper then used punch on bottom, added wrapped wire to side for a 'masculine' touch.

Love, love, love the SU wood embossing folder! Made flag wrapped in twine, stamped sentiment, used Big Shot to cut it out, cut out sentiment in darker ink. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!