The Best Cinnamon Rolls - Really!

Our Frankies turned out fine and tasted really good.


However, it is these cinnamon rolls that made my day! I have been searching for YEARS to find a recipe that is nice and big and fluffy and delicious. This is the best one I've ever tried, and from start to eating one took me less than 2 1/2 hours. Fabulous!

The Best Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe by Mary Rockwood

Makes 12 big rolls

Made at 7000 ft.

Adjustments for lower altitudes:

Lower baking temp to 350.

Decrease flour 1/4 cup

This recipe is assuming you have a standing mixer - Bosch, Kitchen Aid, K-Tec, etc.

DOUGH:

3 1/2 c. bread flour

1 1/2 Tb. instant dry yeast

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

FILLING:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour or bread flour

1 Tb. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter

FROSTING:

4 oz. cream cheese

2 Tb. butter

2 Tb. milk or heavy cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Warm milk in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Pour into mixing bowl. Melt butter in microwave. Pour into mixing bowl. Add sugar, yeast, salt, and eggs. Mix in flour, one cup at a time until dough starts to leave the edges of the bowl. Making sure the paddle appropriate for mixing bread is on your mixer, beat an additional 3 -5 minutes until it is moderately soft, smooth, and elastic. Take out of mixer and place in a greased bowl. Cover with waxed paper. Fill up your kitchen sink with warm water, about 1/3 the way up. Place the covered bowl in the water, making sure no water gets into the bowl. When I did this, the bread rose to the top of the bowl in 30 minutes.

When it is rising, mix the filling together so it is nice and crumbly. You can use your hands or a pastry blender.

Take out and put onto a floured surface good for rolling dough. Do not punch dough down. Sprinkle with flour on both sides. Dough should be not too sticky but not too tough either. Using rolling pin, roll dough into a 12 x 8 rectangle. Sprinkle filling over the dough. You may top with 1/2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup pecans next if you'd like or even 1 cup finely chopped apples. I did neither, but I'd like to try the apples next time. Roll up jelly roll style; pinch loose edge tight to seal. With a kitchen knife, mark the dough into 12 equal pieces by first marking at 1/3 and 2/3. Then mark each of these in half, then in half again. Using a thread, cut the dough along your markings. Arrange dough pieces, cut side up, in a greased 12 x 8 metal pan (ours were Wilton baking sheets.)

Cover dough loosely with clear plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise. Rise dough on counter. Mine took an hour to raise enough to fill the pan.

While this is rising, make your frosting by beating it all together in a mixer until consistency is fluffy and makes peaks.

When dough fills the pan, bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 -20 minutes or until light brown. Carefully invert rolls onto the plastic wrap you used to cover them with shortly after they come out. then flip them upright again onto waxed paper. (She explained that this helps to keep the filling better inside the rolls.) Frost while warm. Immediately rinse the pan, as the filling with be hard and difficult to get off if you wait. It did rinse easily after about 5 minutes when I got to it.

This recipe can be doubled. It also can be refrigerated at the 2nd rising stage for 2 - 24 hours. Dough should be taken out 30 minutes to stand or until fully raised before proceeding with baking.

The hunting is now over. I will never need another recipe again for these - YEAH!!!