June 10, 2009

"The Best" Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe comes from a dear friend of my mom, who is known for her DELICIOUS baking and cooking....she is amazing and I hope to acquire some more recipes in the days ahead, especially her recipe for Snicker bar-like candies. Yum.

Janelle would bring these cinnamon rolls into the church office where I used to work and they'd be devoured quickly. When I was looking for a recipe that I wanted to become a tradition for Christmas breakfast at the Hughes' house, I immediately thought of these and tried to get her "secret" recipe. She sweetly emailed it to me and so I present it here since several friends have requested it...I can't help but share the love....Enjoy!

4 1/2 to 5 cups flour
1 pkg. yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup flour

In large mixer bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of the flour and yeast.

In a small saucepan heat the milk, 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar and salt just till warm (120-130 degrees) and butter is almost melted, stirring constantly. Add to the flour mixture. Add eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes). Shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover; let rise in a warm place till double (about 1 hour).

For filling, combine brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Cut in remaining butter till crumbly; set aside.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a 18 x 12 rectangle.

Sprinkle filling over dough and roll up jelly-roll style and slice into 12 pieces (get some plain dental floss and use it to cut through for easy slicing that won't mash the dough....cool trick!)
Arrange in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Cover dough loosely with cloth or plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise. Let dough rise in a warm place till nearly double. About 45 minutes. OR instead of letting dough rise and baking immediately, you can refrigerate dough for 2-24 hours. Then when ready to bake, uncover and let stand in a warm place for 30 minutes till rolls are nearly doubled.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until light brown.

While still warm frost with a powdered sugar glaze. I usually melt 3 Tbsp. butter, add 2 cups powdered sugar, and then thin it to desired consistency with half and half. Drizzle over warm rolls.

Delicious!

I didn't have any pictures to post with this recipe because all the evidence was eaten. :-)

5 comments:

Cathy said...

Secret no more! How come I never got any cinnamon rolls???

You with us said...

Yum. Sign me up!

Arabian Acres said...

Nice, and that was going to be my next question, where is the picture? ;) I'll have to give these a try for sure.

The Taylor Family said...

Yum! I'm so excited for another recipe! I aquired a great flaky biscuit type cinamon roll recipe years ago that doesn't take yeast and we do that a lot! But I'm excited to try this!!!

monkidesign said...

Definitely the best I have ever had or have ever made! Thanks again for the recipe! :D ~Hannah