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I’m realistic about my baking. I know it’s full of fat and calories and all that bad stuff you’re not supposed to have. But, the way I see it is if you went to the trouble of baking something you’ve kind of earned a free pass to eat it. Sure, you could pop open a can of cinnamon rolls and make your house smell good. Or you could go out and buy a cinnamon roll and scarf it down. But, have you really EARNED it? I’m all about justifying my bad habits. Who doesn’t love a good cinnamon roll? It’s comfort food at its yeastiest. So warm and sweet right out of the oven; slightly salty, slightly sweet. Mmm… So I went on a quest to make the perfect cinnamon roll. I didn’t want bread with a cinnamon filling; I wanted a sweet dough that was delicate to eat yet hearty enough to stand up to an ooey, gooey, cinnamon-y filling. I searched through cookbooks and all over the internet, constantly tinkering, until I came up with this recipe. During my search I made a lot of cinnamon rolls… some downright awful, some okay, but these were the hands down winner. I’m not sure how much of this recipe is my own creation and how much I pirated from someone else’s recipe. If this looks awfully similar to your mom’s recipe let me know, I’d love to give her credit!
Cinnamon rolls can be time consuming, so it’s best to plan ahead when you know you’ll be wanting some for breakfast. If you wait to start them until the day you want them you won’t be eating them until afternoon, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can bake them ahead of time and then re-warm them in the morning when you’re ready to eat them. You can also get them all the way to the point of being in the pan and then pop them in the fridge until the next morning when you’re ready to bake. Pull them out of the refrigerator while your oven heats up to allow the rolls to come to room temperature and then bake them off as usual.
CINNAMON ROLLS yield: approximately 16 large cinnamon rolls, depending how thick you slice them
Sweet Yeast Bread:
- 2 packages (4 1/2 t) Yeast
- 1 C Water, warm
- 2/3 C + 1 t (separated) Sugar
- 1 C Milk, warm
- 2/3 C Butter, warm
- 2 t Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 7 C AP Flour
- Proof yeast in the warm water with the 1 t of separated sugar
- Combine milk, 2/3 C sugar, butter, salt and eggs
- Add yeast mixture to milk mixture
- Add flour and knead
- Let rise in bowl
- Punch down, let rest 5 minutes
- Roll out to a large rectangle; smear on the cinnamon filling almost to the edges; roll up into a fairly tight log; and using a very sharp serrated knife, slice into rolls about 1” thick
- Place on buttered pan approximately 1/2” apart
- Let rise on pan
- Bake at 350 F for approximately 30 minutes; take care not to over-bake
Hints: During the last rise and the baking, the rolls will grow so that they’re touching; you want the rolls on the outside of the pan to be golden brown, but the rolls on the inside to be just starting to brown; the inside rolls will continue to bake from the heat of the other rolls; if you bake until the inside rolls are golden brown the outside rolls will be over-baked and dry.
Cinnamon Filling:
- 8 oz Butter, melted
- 3 C Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/4 C Ground Cinnamon
- 1 C Raisins (optional)
- Melt butter
- If using raisins you may want to soak them in warm water or warm brandy to soften them and to add a little flavor
- Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins (if using)
- Set aside until ready to fill rolls
Icing:
- 4 oz Butter, melted
- 1/4 C Milk, warm
- 5 C Powdered Sugar, sifted
- Melt butter
- Warm milk (this will prevent the butter from re-solidifying when you stir the milk and butter together)
- Slowly stir everything together
- If you want thicker icing add more powdered sugar; if you want thinner icing add more milk
- Drizzle onto warm rolls
-The Baker
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