Dinner Pinwheels

This is T-Man's favorite dinner of all times and a surefire hit with all of my kids.  The thing that they love the most is that this meal always ends with cinammon rolls at the end!

  

I like to buy frozen dough because it is so fast and easy, however you can use your own roll dough recipe as well.  I have a great roll dough recipe that I will share with you later.

First I buy Rhodes frozen bread loaves.  They already come in three perfectly portioned lumps of dough.  I place them in three well greased bowls first thing in the morning and by dinner time they have thawed and risen enough to use.  Next, I roll each dough piece out into a large rectanglar section.

The next step is to spread with butter and then your choice of toppings.  I forgot to take a picture, but that's okay because there are so many different topping choices.  Some that we have tried are, dijon mustard, deli ham, and cheddar cheese.  I have also done veggie cream cheese instead of butter, deli turkey, and swiss cheese.  We have done a little pizza sauce (don't do too much or they don't work!), pepperoni, and cheese.  And they have all been delicious.

After your toppings are added, roll it all up into a large snake.  The same way you would do cinnamon rolls.  And cut into 12 approx 1-1 1/2 inch pieces.

Place in a pan to rise.  I would give them at least 30 minutes if not more.  You will know they are ready when they are filling the pan. 

And then bake those beauties at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (check on them after about 15 minutes).

And voila a meal any kid will eat!

I usually use two of the bread loaf sections for dinner rolls and then the last section is saved for cinnamon rolls for dessert.  Just roll the cinnamon rolls out the same with your favorite cinnamon roll filling and follow the same baking directions. 

Best Ever Rolls

2 cups milk

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup luke warm water

2 tablespoons yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 beaten eggs

8-11 cups of flour

1. In a saucepan combine milk, shortening and 1/2 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil and then cool.

2. In a small bowl combine luke warm water, yeast, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Set aside and let dissolve.

3. When the milk mixture cools, pour it into a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of the flour and all of the yeast mixture, salt, and eggs. Beat until smooth, then add the rest of the flour.

4. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size, then punch down, re-cover and let rise again.

5. When the dough has risen again, punch down and shape (here is where you would divide it into three sections and roll them out for pinwheels, BUT this recipe is also awesome for dinner rolls if you want to shape them accordingly.)

6.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise until almost touching (about 30 min.)

7.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

 

My Favorite Cinnamon Roll Filling

4 Tbsp melted butter spread all over rolled out dough

 

In a Bowl, mix:

1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Sprinkle over melted butter all the way to the edges.  Add raisins if desired.

 

Awesome Cinnamon Roll Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp butter

a couple of drops of vanilla.

 

Mix until smooth and flowing, but not overly runny.  Add a little extra milk if needed.