Cinnabon Rolls

I remember the first time I ever had a Cinnabon roll… I was pregnant with Gabriel and was on my carb diet… I was waddling through the mall following DH and smelled the most wonderful smell… a carb smell.. a smell of melted butter mixed with cinnamon and sugar… a extra five lbs smell..

I had to have one..

After shelling out $5 for a over sized cinnamon roll and scarfing it down I knew there was no way I could ever justify doing that again…

I had dreams of those rolls.. and nightmares of the rolls that it gave me.

So I went on a search of a recipe that could come close..

But before I go even farther in my proclaiming of my love of all things fattening and bad for you and the sharing of recipe that is such I should say that when I made these it ended up being the start of a very bad week… there is no finished picture of the rolls… nor any of the icing being made… everything went down hill when I woke up Monday.

But do make these… they are perfect.

Trying out a new ingredient grouping…

Heat your milk and add your sugar and yeast to proof

Melt butter

Add eggs

Add butter

Add salt to your flour and mix…

Let raise till doubled..

Now here is when everything headed south… even though my yeast proofed ( so I thought kinda hard to see in milk) my dough NEVER raised… I had to run to town to get more pipes and paint for the bathroom and when I got home the dough was raised slightly but nowhere near what it should have been after two hours of raising… I thought I might as well use it and not waste the ingredients when I picked up the dough from the bowl there was no gluten activated… it was all dead.. so I restarted and added 1/3 cup of warm water to my bowl added the yeast.. seen that it really DID proof added my sugar, milk and eggs in after and proceeded with mixing…. By then the house was a uproar because someone looked at this person and that person punched that person and the sick person came down stairs and wanted food so I gave up taking pictures of the right way… I just showed you the wrong way to do it so you know not to do it that way…

Har har har… what a sharing person I am…

I added and this is completely optional ½ cup of potato flakes in my dough… I keep reading how they add a softness and chewiness to your rolls and wanted to see if it works…

It does but if you don’t have any don’t bother..

But I did have a little hissy fit over the wording they used on their packaging “homemade has met it’s match”? really? I beg to differ..

Roll out your dough and add your butter cinnamon and sugar mixture

Roll up your dough…. Ever wonder why the store bought ones are flat on top?? Well not flat but well rounded not like towers like most homemade cinnamon rolls? Do not stretch the dough as you roll..

I divided my dough in half and made 24… with each log cut 12… with a sharp knife other wise you will end up sawing and ruining all your work… in a greased pan let raise for 30 mins..

Now imagine the rolls browned and frosted with cream cheese icing..

Since I only cooked one batch of rolls I put the other 12 in a pan (before the second rise) covered in the fridge over night… the next day I laid them out for an hour and a half to rise ( my house was cold)  and then cooked them as normal.. this recipe would be great for when you have company stay over and want homemade rolls  in the morning but don’t want to get up at 3am to start making them…

Recipe:

     Dough:

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup margarine, melted

4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1/3 cup of warm water

 Filling:

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

Icing:

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl.  Let proof. Mix in the milk, sugar, butter, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Or in your mixer with the dough hook. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.