My posts here have been SLOW lately. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but rather that life has been pulling in many other (good but time-consuming) directions. I've actually had the intention to post several times over the nearly two months that have gone by since my last...but time passes and I forget how to put together the random notes I have written on stickies, lose the compelling angle to the recipe I was going to describe, or the photos get buried among others of travel, ferris wheels, and weddings.
This time, I am not going to let that happen.
For the past few days, Randy's cousin, Jeff, and Jeff's son, Sam, have been visiting. They've been exploring much of LA and the surrounding area - venturing so far as San Bernadino yesterday for a quest to Randy Rhoad's (guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne) tomb. All of this exploring means the need for sustenance is great. Or at least that's one of the ways I've rationalized making all of the food we have in the past few days.
Homemade pizza on Friday night saw Randy making an extra batch of dough just as stomachs were starting to feel full. He of course already had a plan for the extra dough - something I had done the last time we made pizzas and had too much pre-made purchased dough on hand - homemade cinnamon rolls.
I cobbled the following together from a few different recipes. We ate the leftovers reheated in the oven this morning, enjoying the last bits of the sticky goodness. Rather than repeat the dough recipe here, I'll refer you back to the last post that details Rudy's special dough.
A Little Orange Cinnamon Rolls
Serves 8-10
Rolls:
1 recipe pizza dough (minus a small pizza, in our case*)
Flour for dusting
2 Tbsp. butter, melted plus more to grease pan
1 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
*I used the 8x8 square pan pictured plus a smaller version that fit 4 additional rolls; with a full batch of dough, I'd recommend using a 9x13" baking dish.
Topping:
2 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla
about a cup powdered sugar
Grease pan with butter. Roll prepared dough into a large rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Spoon mixture evenly over butter-coated dough. Beginning with long side facing you, roll dough into a long roll. Use a sharp knife to cut into 1 1/2" slices. Arrange slices side by side in baking pan and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes to overnight (I did the latter - makes for an easy morning breakfast).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove rolls from fridge and discard plastic wrap. Bake rolls until golden, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix topping ingredients, adding more sugar as needed to get a paste-like consistency. Spoon over hot rolls after they come out of the oven. Let sit a few minutes for the sugary buttery topping to melt; enjoy while still warm.
