I made my Grama-in-law's Cinnamon Roll recipe this weekend for General Conference, and it was amazing (of course I tweaked it a little and added my own touch). If you wanna melt into a squishy, carmelized, soft cinnabun, follow this recipe:
- 2 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 Tb.)
- 2 C. warm water
- 1/3 C. Granulated sugar
- 1/3 C. Vegetable oil
- 3 beaten eggs
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 7 to 7 1/2 C. All purpose flour
- Tb. Dough enhancer (opt. but it makes the dough better!!)
- 1 Tb. Vital Wheat Gluten (also opt. but makes dough better!!)
- 1/2 C. Butter, softened (add a little more if you want for flavor and carmelization:))
- 1 C. Packed brown sugar (add a little more if you want for flavor and carmelization:))
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon (add a little more if you want for flavor:))
- 1/2-1 C. Chopped walnuts or pecans (opt. but sure makes em yummy!)
Ok so I halfed this recipe not wanting to make too much, which turned out perfectly. I reccommend doing the same unless you are feeding a crowd or large family. I made 15 small buns and they all fit nicely in one 9x13 pan. When halfing the recipe it was tricky, i just measured 1/2 of everthing except I used two eggs (it's hard to half 3 eggs:)) and I actually used the full amount of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. I also added chopped walnuts which were amazing!!!
Ok so in a bowl add warm water, yeast, oil, and granulated sugar. Beat eggs in small bowl. Measure 3/4 of the flour and the salt into large bowl and whisk/sift. Add water and yeast mixture and eggs to flour mixture and incorporate with a wooden spoon or utensil of your choice. Incorporate in as much of remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and place in warmed oven to rise (at least 30 minutes or until double in size).
Punch down dough, divide (if using full recipe because you will be using 2 9x13 pans). Roll out dough slightly (then let rest 5 min) on flowered surface. ( you won't be able to roll it out all the way if you don't let it rest, it will just shrink back because of elasticity, so let it rest, then continue rolling it out into large rectangle.) (I rolled my rectangle out really big so the dough was pretty thin-the layers were thinner that way which means more surface with butter/sugar/cinnamon/nuts:))
Ok now spred your softened butter all over dough (i use my fingers), sprinkle on evenly the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. If you want your rolls bigger, roll up dough from the short side. If you want them smaller, roll them up from the long side. Roll it up whichever way, then get some dental floss (unused:)) instead of cutting and smooshing with a knife, use floss by sliding the floss under the roll and wrapping it around the dough and pinching it (does that make sense?) using it to cut the roll, about 2'' for each roll. Should make 15-16 rolls. If you did the full recipe you will now roll out your second piece of dough and repeat with butter/brown sugar/cinnamon/nuts, roll and cut up.
Butter the bottom of your 9x13 pan(s) and place rolls in leaving space in between for them to rise. Let rise in pan for 30 min. or until they look as big as you want them. Turn the oven on to 350F and bake for 20-25 min or until slightly golden on top.
Ok now for the Cream Cheese frosting:
- 1/2 C. Butter
- 1/2 C. Butter-flavored Shortening
- 8 oz. Cream cheese
- 1 tsp. Lemon juice
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1-2 Tb. Milk
- 4 C. Powdered Sugar
Beat it all up and spread it on warm cinnabuns.
Grab a cinnabun and bite right into it. Do not regret it, ENJOY the delishousness, softness of the dough, carmelized butter and sugar, crunchy nuts, and CREAMY rich amazing frosting!!! Then tell me how it went!
