Jailhouse Potato-Cinnamon Rolls

Ahh...I have finally reached another week off. This one feels the most relaxed I've had for awhile now that all of the holidays are behind us. Well, except for Valentines Day. More to come on that one...

Anyway, to celebrate I thought I would share a recipe for what are easily the best cinnamon rolls I have ever personally made and some of the best cinnamon rolls I've tasted, period. And it's totally worth throwing that new diet you just started out of the window.

Jailhouse Potato-Cinnamon Rolls
(Adapted from a recipe I found in Woman's Day March 2007)
Makes 24 (VERY LARGE CINNAMON ROLLS! I halved the recipe when I made them and still ended up with more than we could ever possibly eat by ourselves)

Ingredients:
Cinnamon Rolls

• 2 medium baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 oz active dry yeast
• 3/4 c plus 1 tsp sugar
• 1 c unsalted butter, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp salt
• 9 c all-purpose flour

Filling

• 4 c firmly packed light-brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 c unsalted butter, melted

Icing

• 2 1/2 c confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 c milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Grease a large bowl and four 13 x 9-in. pans.

2. Rolls: Cook potatoes with water to cover until tender when pierced (about 15 min.) Remove and reserve 3 c cooking water in a medium bowl; drain potatoes. Let water cool until it registers 110 to 115 degrees F.

3. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl (not the one you have greased!) and mash. I would mash them until they are smooth, possibly even use a food processor or something. I didn't mash mine quite as well as I should have. Luckily you couldn't tell once they were baked :)

4. Stir yeast and 1 t sugar into reserved potato water until yeast dissolves. Let stand 5 min or until foamy.

5. Add the 3/4 c sugar, melted butter, eggs, salt and yeast-potato water to potatoes. Whisk to blend. Add flour in 3-cup increments and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated. The dough will be very soft. Transfer to the greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until dough is doubled in size. Punch dough down to deflate. Cover bowl with plastic wrap.

6. Filling: Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium size bowl until blended.

7. Remove dough from bowl and divide in quarters. Work with one portion at a time and keep the rest covered. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll into a 12-in.-wide, 1/4-in.-thick rectangle. Brush with 1/4 c melted butter; top evenly with 1 c of the brown sugar mixture.

8. Starting on 12-in. side of the dough, roll up carefully like a jelly-roll (whatever that means.) Using a serrated knife, cut each roll crosswise in 2-in.-wide slices. Place slices 1 in. apart in greased pans. This puts 6 in each.

9. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until they get puffy, about 1 hour.

10. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake rolls 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown. P.S.--I didn't adjust anything for high-altitude and they turned out just fine.

11. Icing: Stir ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle over rolls while still warm.

Delicious!!