Homemade {Cinnabon-like} Cinnamon Rolls

In the last two weeks, I've made three recipes to come up with a go-to cinnamon roll recipe that is worth the calories, but isn't a ton of work and mess. For the first test run, I made the rolls at night and covered them after the final rise before refrigerating them. There's no way I would get up at 5am to start this whole process to eat the day-of!

Oh. My. Goodness. These were so good that I immediately packed the leftovers up and delivered them to neighbors. I acted like it was because I'm a good friend and wanted to share my treats, but it was more because I needed to get them out of the house. WOW, these are so good! (Warning: There is a lot of butter in these. Seriously...a lot.)

DOUGH:
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast (or two .25 oz. packets )
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup water (approximately 110 degrees)
1 cup warm milk
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, room temperature
7 cups all-purpose flour

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in 1 cup warm water; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup warm milk, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, 2 tsp. salt, and 2 slightly beaten eggs. Add yeast mixture and 5 cups of flour to mixture; beat until smooth.

Continue to add the remaining 2 cups of flour by hand, kneading until dough is no longer sticky.


(convince daughter that this mixture does not taste like cookie dough)


Coat two bowls with cooking spray. Divide dough in half and allow to rise in the bowls until doubled. (60-90 minutes)


(doubled dough looks like this - I flipped it over once before rising to moisten the whole thing with cooking spray)


Roll dough onto a generously floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with 1/2 cup melted butter, then sprinkle with 1 cup sugar and 3 T. cinnamon. (you can mix the cinnamon and sugar; I didn't for this picture)


Beginning with one end, tightly roll the dough. Pinch the edges to seal, using extra butter as "glue," if needed.


(If you want truly decedent cinnamon rolls with no regard for calories...) Melt 1/2 cup butter in a 13x9x2 pan.

Floss the rolls (I use thread) and place into prepared pan. Allow to rise 30-45 minutes.

(Picture below shows risen rolls on the right, unrisen on the left. These slanty rolls were NOT flossed, by the way.)

If you want to save some of the rolls for another day, put half of the rolls in a pan and half on a cookie sheet. After they've risen, freeze the cookie sheet, then stick the frozen rolls into a Ziplock to bake later.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 350° until the rolls are golden brown.


A couple of icing options...

Regular Icing:
1/4 cup melted butter
1 T. vanilla
3 T. milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream Cheese Icing:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Enjoy!