Valentine’s Day. The day of love! What a great day to start a new journey with all of you! I thought that I would share a recipe that I baked for my family this morning. It is extremely versatile and can be made when time is really short. What recipe gets a lot of LOVE from my family? Homemade cinnamon rolls, of course! Today, I made them a little more special than usual. I’m calling them Turtle Cinnamon Rolls.

Why are they pink? Well, I decided I’d get into the Valentine’s Day spirit…see, fully customizable!

To begin this process, you will need a few simple ingredients: 1 c. milk, 1/4 c. butter, 1/4 c. sugar, 3-3 1/2 c. flour, 1 t. salt, 1 egg, and 1 T. yeast. This is your roll dough. If you want to make cinnamon rolls, you’ll need another 1/4 c. butter, 1/2 c. sugar, and 2 t. cinnamon. To make these stupendous Turtle Cinnamon Rolls, you will also need 1/3 c. chopped pecans, 1 T. corn syrup, 1/3 c. packed brown sugar, and 2 T. butter. Of course you’ll want to drizzle a bit of chocolate on the top…melt a handful of chocolate chips (my favorite are the 60% bittersweet Giradelli chips) in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and drizzle away when they are completely melted. YUM!

Let’s start with the dough. You will want to heat the milk and 1/4 c. butter in the microwave until it reaches no more than 110-115 degrees. Any more than that, and you’ll kill the yeast. Dead yeast=flat dough. It isn’t pretty. In my microwave this is only one minute. I then stir the butter and milk together until it is completely melted.

Find your best mixing bowl and let’s get started. This works best with a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Honestly, I have not made them without either, but you try it and let me know how it goes. You will be mixing 1 c. flour, 1/4 c. sugar, 1 t. salt, and 1 T. yeast first. Next, slowly add the butter/milk mixture while beating. Once it is all added, mix this for two minutes. I mean it. Time it!

Next, you’ll add the single egg and one more cup of flour. (I added paste food coloring at this point, but you don’t have to.) Mix until well incorporated. At this point, I add one more cup of flour. While mixing, if it starts to climb the beaters on the mixer, I think that it’s done and I’ll work more flour in while kneading. If the mixture doesn’t seem to be climbing the beaters, add up to 1/3 c. more. However, listen to your mixer! If it sounds like it might be having a difficult time, it is best to turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead the rest of the way.

My dough looked like this after 3 cups of flour. Beautiful and shaggy, isn’t it? I turned it out on a flour surface and kneaded for a few seconds, just until I got a nice, smooth, soft, ball of dough. Spray a large mixing bowl and plop the ball in. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator over night. (Or, you can set this in a draft-free area and let it rise until double, about 2 hours).

By the next morning, my dough had risen beautifully! I turned the dough out on a slightly floured surface and rolled it to a 12×18 rectangle. After melting the 1/4 c. butter, I spread it over the dough and then sprinkled with the 1/2 c. sugar and 2 t. cinnamon, combined. I rolled it up, starting with the long side, making sure to roll it tightly. Next, I crimped the seam and got ready to cut my rolls.

In the meantime, I made the caramel and pecan topping. It is so easy to make homemade caramel, and it tastes so good! In a small sauce pan combine the 2 T. butter, 1 T. corn syrup, and 1/3 c. brown sugar. Cook over medium heat until it is melted and bubbly. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan and spread out to an even layer. Immediately sprinkle top of caramel with 1/3 c. chopped pecans, like so…

Once dough is cut into twelve pieces, arrange in four rows of three rolls in the pan. Cover tightly and refrigerate over night. Now, plan ahead! You’ll want to give these beauties plenty of time to rise…they need about 2 hours when they come out of the refrigerator.

These are my rolls after rising for two hours. I like to use my oven as a proofer. Basically, I turn on my oven to 100 degrees and then when it reaches that, I turn it off, place the plastic wrap-covered rolls in the oven, and wait two hours for the magic to happen. The heat warms up the little yeasties and makes them very happy.

Now, before preheating the oven to bake, be sure to take the rolls out! The oven needs to be preheated to 350 degrees. The rolls will bake for 15-20 minutes, until they are golden brown and delicious. NOTE: the pink color made it a little more difficult to check for doneness.

Because these are caramel and pecan topped rolls, be sure to have a platter ready when the hot rolls come out of the oven. Set a timer for two minutes, then carefully invert the pan. This will give you a caramel and pecan topping to your rolls. If you wish, (and why wouldn’t you?), drizzle your melted chocolate over the top.

These were divine and a wonderful breakfast to share with my family. Healthy? Not in the least! But I am a firm believer in moderation. Otherwise, life would be boring.

I love to show my family that I care about them through my baking. It is easy to show them that I care. Where I struggle the most is showing everyone I come in contact with that I care about them, too. And you know, that’s what we’re supposed to do.  In John 13:34, Jesus said,

 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Talk about a hard command! This week, I’m going to work on implementing this more in my life. I need to be slower to anger and quicker to forgive and love those in my little area of the world. Happy Valentine’s Day! May you spread a little love and sunshine in your walk this week. 🙂

Regular Cinnamon Roll Recipe

(Day 1)  

Thoroughly mix in a bowl:

1 Tbsp. dry yeast, 1 c. flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 c. sugar

Combine in measuring cup and heat until 110-115 degrees (if it gets too hot, let it cool down):

1 c. milk and 1/4 c. butter pieces

Gradually add to flour mixture and beat with a mixer 2 minutes.

Next add:  1 egg and 1 c. flour

Beat again and add enough flour to make a soft dough (1 to 1 ⅓ cups)—do not add too much flour!

Knead, place in greased bowl, grease top of dough, cover and refrigerate.

(Day 2)

Let rise; punch down; roll out to a 12 X 8 inch rectangle. (If you want to shape the rolls differently, this does make a great dinner roll, crescent roll, tea ring, or braid.)

Cinnamon filling:

4T. melted butter—brushed on dough after rolling out

Mix together: 1/2  c. sugar and 2t. cinnamon. Sprinkle over the butter-covered dough.

Shape and put in greased baking pan; cover and refrigerate.

(Day 3)

Let rise.  Bake 350 degrees 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Make Powdered Sugar Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar, ¼ t. vanilla, 1 T. milk

1. In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, till it reaches drizzling consistency.
2. Drizzle over cinnamon rolls