Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Our family loves cinnamon rolls as I'm pretty sure most do. This morning we had a hankering for some but didn't have a tube in the fridge and didn't feel like going to the store in the rain.

I decided to look for a recipe to see if we had all the necessary ingredients right here in the pantry, and we did!

This recipe is pretty easy as far as effort involved, but this is a recipe that uses yeast, so TIME is the biggest pain for this. There's no instant gratification here. I'll have to hand it to the tube on the convenience factor. 

The whole thing, start to finish was about 2.5 hours but was well worth the time.

Oh, and it's from Paula Deen, so get out the butter.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

(from Paula Deen here)

Dough:

1/4-ounce package yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup scalded milk (boil this in the microwave)

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter or shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan

3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans (optional)

Glaze:

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

==

I used "active dry" yeast and let it bloom in the warm water with just a pinch of sugar added.

Stir to combine.

10 minutes later.

Foamy

==

Combine the 1/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup butter or shortening, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, and 2 cups of flour (we'll add the other 2 cups in a bit) in your mixing bowl.

Use the paddle to combine thoroughly.

Add the milk and mix again to combine.

Pour in the bloomed yeast and water and switch to the dough hook attachment.

Add the last 2 cups of flour.

Mix slowly until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Move the dough to a lightly floured surface.

Knead by hand for 7 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover for 1 hour to rise.

==

Meanwhile, melt your butter for the filling. I actually used margarine.

Melty

 Combine the 3/4 cup of sugar with the 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.

Mix well.

==

Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with butter and sugar.

This will ensure they can be removed from the pan easily.

When your dough has finished rising,

Punch it down and turn out onto a floured surface.

Roll the dough out to a rough rectangle.

Mine was about 15"x19". 

Generously lube up the dough with the melted butter. 

This was actually really hard for me to get it all on there.

Sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar mixture. 

You can drizzle on the remaining butter if you couldn't get it all on before. 

Add your rasins or nuts. I used raisins but if I had pecans, it would have been a good addition.

Roll from one of the short ends as tightly as you can. It's kind of hard, but do your best.

Transfer to a cutting board and cut 12-15 rolls out. 

I actually measured them to be 1" each, so I ended up with 15.

Lay them out on your prepared baking dish.

Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

==

In the meantime, make the glaze.

Get 1/2 a stick of butter along with a teaspoon of vanilla extract into a bowl. Ensure the butter is room temp.

Add the 2 cups of powdered sugar.

Start by adding 4 tablespoons of hot water. Make sure it's near boiling.

Stir to combine.

I added 1 more tablespoon to get a nice consistency.

If you want it thicker, add less water - thinner, add a little more.

==

Ok, we're at the home stretch. After your final rise is over, pop the rolls into a 350F oven for 25-30 minutes.

Remove when the outside rolls start to get nice and brown and crispy. 

I pulled mine at 28 minutes.

Let them cool for a few minutes and pour on the glaze. 

These turned out great. They were ooey and gooey and delicious. Not only did they taste far superior to the canned ones, you get a lot more for less money. Win-win!

Enjoy!