Donut Rolls

The last few days have been very crazy for me.  My son just got botox injections in his neck, so he has been grumpy, and tipsy, and just very hard to handle.  I mean, I feel terrible for him, he can't keep his balance very well at all.  But with all the fussing and freaking out, I find myself just wanting to pig out on donuts.  Ever feel like that?

Luckily for me I have a swallowing problem, or I am convinced I would be a 600 lb whale.  I tend to lean towards junk food, sweet junk food, when I am stressed or upset.  Maybe not to eat it so much as to make it.  So I feel bad for everyone around me who has to resist the temptation to pig out on my bakery treats.

Like I said, I have been wanting donuts.  Nick offered to watch Tristan so I could go and get myself an apple fritter or something, but I hate going out alone, especially when it's dark.  I don't know, marriage turned me into a wuss.  I used to go out alone all the time.  Instead, I decided to make my own donuts.

One problem, I've never actually done it before.  So as I'm debating how I am going to deep fry them, I make the dough.  And this is the recipe:

1/4 cup warm water
3 tsp yeast
1 1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup margarine
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
5+ cups bread flour

Here's how I do it.  Mix the warm water and yeast, then add the sugar and let it froth up.  Warm the milk and the margarine together till it's all nice and melty.  Beat the eggs slightly with the vanilla.  Then add all the wet ingredients together and stir well.  Lastly, with the dough hook attachment, mix all the flour in, cup by cup, until the dough is well formed.  It's going to be pretty sticky, just oil it and put it in a warm covered place to rise for an hour or so.

Then, as I'm still wondering about frying, realizing the oil we have is pretty low quality, I am worried it will make them taste bad.  So, instead, I ravage the cupboards and fridge and discovered I had powdered sugar, brown sugar, and a whole box of cream cheese.  What to do?  Cinnamon rolls!!!

Here's another fun twist.  After you roll out the dough to spread with butter, mix up the brown sugar and cinnamon.  Also, melt the butter, and here's my secret: add a couple tsp of cheesecake flavored pudding mix to the butter before you spread it.  It makes for a nice, sweet, gooey filling.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over he dough, be VERY generous, we like gooey sugar filling, before you roll it up.  Then, my old trick, use dental floss to cut the dough into 12 even pieces.  Place them into a greased baking sheet, cover, and let rise for another half hour or so, until the sides of all the rolls are touching.

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, until they are golden brown.

For frosting, we love cream cheese frosting.  I use half a box of cream cheese, a dash of vanilla, a few more tsp of cheesecake pudding mix, a tbsp of milk, and 1 1/2 - 2 cups of powdered sugar.  You have to decide your own consistency, so use more or less as you like.  And while the rolls are still warm, I spread the frosting all over, so it's nice and melty when I serve them.  They have a perfect flakey bread, and a warm and gooey filling, combined to make an amazingly tasty treat.

And wow, can I say I had the best cinnamon roll shake for breakfast this morning?  Just add a scoop of ice cream and some milk, blend up, and you have a delicious shake!  My husband loves them too, he says they tasted like a real Cinnabon, or better!  Plus, it's a great way to make your house smell amazing and make your neighbors jealous! ;)