Cinnamon Rolls

When you ask someone in my family how to make one of the classic recipes, and then you ask someone else in the same family how to make the same recipe, you are sure to get a few different answers. Sometimes the same person doesn't always tell you the same way. So you just have to make things up a little as you go along.

When I wanted to make cinnamon rolls I went to two different sources for information and quantities and what not and I present to you the amalgam of everything that has best worked for me. These cinnamon rolls, however you do them, are delicious. Just ask the Robber, who ate ten of them in under 24 hours. :)

The roll base is the same that I use for dinner rolls and can be found previously on this blog here: http://vegetabletuesdays.blogspot.com/2010/12/dinner-rolls.html

Ingredients:

For 2 dozen rolls (you can also make one dozen rolls and one dozen cinnamon rolls):

2 3/4 c warm water

6 T sugar (optional: add 2-4 T. more for sweeter dough)

2 T yeast

3 t salt

1 c dry milk powder

1/2-3/4 c yellow shortening (or vegetable oil)

2 eggs

~9 c white bread flour

For filling for 2 dozen rolls (modest amount first, extravagant second. I like being extravagant):

1/2 - 2/3 C. brown sugar

1 - 1 1/3 C. granulated sugar

2 - 3 1/3 T. butter

4 - 5 T. cinnamon

For glaze for 2 dozen rolls:

3.5 T. butter

4.5 C. powdered sugar

1.5 tsp. vanilla

5-7 T. warm water added 1 T. at a time

For filling mix, of which you can make a lot of and then use 2/3 - 1 C. per dozen rolls instead of making filling everytime:

2 C. brown sugar

4 C. sugar

1/4 lbs butter (1 stick)

1 C. cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pour water over sugar in large bowl. Dissolve yeast and let stand, uninterrupted. When foamy, add milk.

2. Alternate 1/2 C. additions of flour with salt, eggs, fat and stir until all flour added to bowl.

3. Knead 10 minutes with additional flour. Allow to rise, covered in a warm place, until volume of dough has doubled.

4. Make filling by combining ingredients and using pastry cutter or fork to cut in the butter.

4. Punch down. Divide dough in half. Roll each half out into a large rectangle and add desired amount of filling. Roll the rectangle into a log and cut into twelve rolls. Place rolls on baking sheet or in 9 x 13 pan and allow to rise until doubled again.

5. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool. When cooled, frost with glaze. (Glaze is easy to make, you can melt the butter before adding it if you like for a smoother glaze.) Rolls can be microwaved again for 30 seconds to re-warm and stored in plastic airtight bags for a few days.