Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, is a Southern comfort food extraordinaire who lives on a ranch in Oklahoma with her husband and four children. Ree is a best selling author, Food Network star, food blogger, photographer, and as of recently, a store owner. She and her husband, Ladd recently opened up The Mercantile located in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, which is a bakery, deli and retail store. Oh, and have you checked out her line of slow cookers and bedding? I'm pretty sure Ree can do anything-all with a big smile on her face, especially make homemade cinnamon rolls.
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One fellow food blogger, photographer and cookbook author, Joy the Baker, was lucky enough to be invited over to Ree's ranch for a few days. Together, they baked Ree's mom's cinnamon roll recipe, but with a little twist. Please, sign me up to do this, anyway! Check out the video of the two friends making this easy recipe, and grab your pie pans because you'll want to make a batch, too.
I love Joy the Baker's reaction as she drives up to the breathtaking Oklahoma ranch and seeing her mentor and friend, Ree. She's practically in tears! I think that would be a common reaction for many, including myself. Just from this short video, you can see how hospitable and sweet Ree Drummond really is.
This original recipe is from Ree's mother, so you know this family recipe is going to be amazing. For the dough, you'll need whole milk, vegetable oil or canola oil, granulated sugar, active dry yeast, 4 cups all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Be sure you have a relatively warm place where you can let the dough rise in a large bowl covered with a clean kitchen towel.
Prepared in a Dutch oven with no mixer required, even though Ree's hand-painted mixer is amazing, this dough comes together easily. Your arms will do a nice work out for the day by mixing the dough, old fashioned style! Roll the dough out into a general rectangular shape when you're ready to fill with treats. Slice into 1/2-inch slices with a sharp knife.
Once the dough had time to rest and rise, it was rolled out and filled with melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, salted pistachios, dark chocolate, and orange zest. If you are making at home, feel free to experiment with this cinnamon rolls recipe. Maybe you want a maple flavoring to your warm rolls, simply whip up a maple frosting with powdered sugar and maple syrup.
For Christmas morning, consider traditional cinnamon rolls with ground cinnamon, and don't forget to generously drizzle your own orange cream cheese glaze on top of the warm rolls, light golden brown and warm from the oven.
The rolls were sliced, baked, and allowed to cool for a few minutes before Ree and Joy drizzled a generous sprinkling of orange glaze on top. How amazing did these cinnamon rolls turn out? I'm pretty sure they're served in heaven.
