Bread, Cinnamon Rolls and Sausage, Oh My!

What is better than homemade bread and cinnamon rolls on a freezing cold Sunday? Not much, other than the boy making dinner! Today's experiment was a new recipe for Amish bread. My loaf came out like a demented football but it tasted nice and sweet but slightly on the dense side. Nice crust. I split my batch into one loaf and one batch of 12 cinnamon rolls which were amazing! I used a Cinnabun clone recipe for the inside goo and top frosting and it was fabulous. The clone recipe did have a different, sweeter dough recipe with it but the Amish bread was perfect with it.

Amish White Bread

(allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 to 2/3 cup white sugar (the more sugar, the sweeter and denser the bread. I used 1/4)
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Cinnabun Clones

(allrecipes.com)

Cinnabun Goo:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened
Cinnabun Topping:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cinnabun Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
2. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Aaaaaand since Mr. Lawyer made us a dinner fit for a football game (because that's what's been on all afternoon) I must feature it. He grilled up some yummy Spicy Italian Sausage from Whole Foods with peppers and onions on my new Christmas Grill Pan. I then did a quick toast on the rolls in the grill pan once he had everything out and we topped them with some spicy german mustard (which has horseradish!) They were delicious and I actually kind of felt like we were at the game.