Cinnamon Rolls

I remember the first time I made these cinnamon rolls.* I took them to a play date at the park in the neighborhood we lived in at the time. My kids were little – I don’t even think Beau was born yet. We were having a pot luck lunch and I showed up with two trays of these puppies. Not a single one of them was left on the trays. They were my go-to cinnamon rolls for many years. My kids grew up eating them until I branched out and began trying new ones. I made them the other day and we all remembered why we like them so much.

Light, fluffy layers of sweet bread with cinnamon and sugar and a frosting that turns into a glaze. The recipe originally calls to let it rise in the refrigerator over night which is helpful when making for breakfast, however, you don’t have to do this step. You can let it rise for 2 hours on your counter-top as well. When you roll them out, the dough will be sticky so you’ll need to have a well floured surface. No need to knead it to make it stiff, just roll them out to about 1/2-1/4 inch thickness. It will be very airy and bubbly, and once you cut them, you may think you have done this wrong because they won’t look very pretty – don’t worry – you haven’t, everything will be okay. (If you refrigerate the dough overnight, you may not have this problem – the dough will be thicker because it is cold)

As the dough rises, these layers will thicken and your rolls will look like the nice fluffy cinnamon rolls we all like to see. You will put the frosting on as soon as they come out of the oven. It will melt and get into all the crevices and create a yummy glaze on top of the rolls. Let me know what you think!

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Cinnamon Rolls

Light fluffy sweet bread with cinnamon and sugar and a frosting glaze.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 36

Ingredients

Rolls and filling

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold water
• 4 eggs slightly beaten
• 2 pkgs yeast (.5 ounces total)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 7 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup butter softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cinnamon

Frosting Glaze

• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 3 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. In a large pot, bring 1 cup water to boil.  Add the 1 cup of butter, sugar, and salt to the pot.  Remove from heat.  Add the 1 cup cold water.  

2. In a separate bowl dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water.  Sprinkle with a dash of sugar to help the yeast activate.  Allow to rest about 5 minutes until it is foamy.

3. Add beaten eggs to the mixture in the pot and when lukewarm, add the yeast mixture.  Stir.  Add the flour and stir together.  It will be a wet, sticky dough.  Cover and let rise for 2 hours, until doubled in size.  Or let rise in the refrigerator overnight.

4. When you are ready to roll out, divide the dough into thirds.   Generously flour the surface and roll the dough in to 15×10 inch rectangles – about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.  If you let them rise in the refrigerator the dough will be stiff and hard. Just work with it and use some muscle to roll it out.

5. Spread each rectangle with 1/3 of the softened butter.  Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together in a bowl and spread 1/3 over each rectangle.  (I never measure the sugar and cinnamon – I always just spread a layer of sugar and then sprinkle generously with cinnamon. I probably use twice as much as the recipe requires.)

6. Roll up the dough jelly-roll style and cut into 12 rounds.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover with a light towel and let rise for 2-3 hours.  Bake one sheet at a time at 375° F for about 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  

7. While they are baking, mix all ingredients for the glaze in a bowl until smooth.  Spread glaze on the warm cinnamon rolls.  

*This recipe is from The Essential Mormon Cookbook