Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

 

Probably the second most popular breakfast item requested by my family are my Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. My husband loves them. I remember when we were first married and traveled quite often for vacations, we would always stop by the Cinnabon counter in the airport and he would have one. One trip to Chicago, he took me to Ann Sather's for their famous Cinnamon Rolls. It's high up on his list of favorite things to eat!

Well you know what that means....I had to make my own homemade cinnamon rolls when we started having children and didn't travel as much anymore. And they couldn't be mediocre. They had to be amazing! It took me trying out different recipes and playing around with different measurements and ingredients to finally make a cinnamon roll worthy of my husband's taste buds. Ha!

 

My little helper, she's 5 and as sweet as sugar. 

 

Saturday morning cinnamon roll making.

The second feat was to make them quick. There was no time to be had waiting 8 hours for several rise times. My kids just didn't have the patience. That's when I found Red Star Platinum Yeast. It works magic. In just over an hour we can have sweet sugary, gooey cinnamon rolls.

 

Pour on the sweet powdered sugar glaze and all is well in my house.


Homemade Cinnamon Roll Recipe: Yields 15 medium sized rolls

Ingredients for the Dough:

1 cup warm whole milk - not scalding (I prefer Organic)
1 egg (Organic)
1/2 stick of melted unsalted butter (organic)
3 cups of flour
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 1/4 tsp Red Star Platinum Instant Yeast (or 1 packet of rapid rise yeast)

In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, & salt.

Combine melted butter, yeast, and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer that has been fitted with the dough hook. Whisk until contents are combined and let sit for 5 minutes (sorry I've only made this with my KitchenAid mixer).  Add the egg, followed by the flour mixture all at once and turn on the mixer and knead slowly until everything is combined. Shut off and scrape down sides and continue to mix for another 5-8 minutes until dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl and has a shiny look to it. Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with a damp cloth, leave in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Ingredients for the filling:
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Cinnamon
5 Tablespoons of softened butter

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Remove dough from the bowl and gently knead it into a ball onto a lightly floured counter surface. Roll out dough into a rectangle approximately 18" x 12" and 1/2" thick. Spread the softened butter evenly across the entire surface. Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter to coat all areas. Next, roll dough into a long roll starting with the 12" end. Tuck the seam underneath. Use a bench scraper or sharp knife to cut log in half, then equally cutting 2" pieces from there. It yields about 14-16 rolls depending on how thin you rolled out the dough.

Put each roll on it's side in a buttered cast iron skillet or a buttered baking dish. I have also used three 6" cake pans. Cover and set in a warm place for 20 minutes. After the time has passed, uncover and place in preheated 350F oven for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are golden brown and cooked thoroughly.

Ingredients for Icing:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
small amount of milk or heavy cream

Whisk together 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with 1 tsp vanilla. Slowly add in a small amount of milk while whisking until desired consistency is reached. Pour over top of warm cinnamon rolls.


*Recipe adapted after a combination of several attempts, tries, of several other recipes to perfect this one in it's current state. ;)