The Killer Cinnamon Rolls

One of my dear readers requested the recipe for the Killer Cinnamon Rolls:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

• 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour [we use bread flour]
• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 1 cup milk [raw goat's milk!]
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 T. ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 1 cup finely chopped, peeled apple (optional)
• 1 T. half-n-half or light cream [we used raw goat's milk!]
• 1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting or Vanilla Glaze (recipes follow).

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan, heat and stir milk, 1/3 cup butter, granulated sugar, and salt, just until warm (120°F to 130°F) and butter almost melts. Add to flour mixture, along with eggs. Beat with electric mixer on low speed for thirty seconds (scraping bowl). Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in greased bowl, turn once. Cover; let rise in warm place until double (about 1 hour) [Ds2 found the best results from letting sit in the refrigerator and slowly rise from 16-24 hours.]

3. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover; let rest for ten minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease two 9" x 1 1/2" baking pans or two baking sheets. Set aside. For filling, stir together brown sugar, the 1/4 cup flour and cinnamon [you can add an extra teaspoon if you like them really cinnamon-y.] Cut in one-third cup butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. [Ds2 says he used room temperature-soft butter and whipped with the mixer until the mixture was "pulverized", then meticulously spread it out in a perfectly even layer on the rolls.]

4. Roll each half into a 12" x 8" rectangle. [If using the 16-24 hour cold rise, let dough come to room temperature before rolling out about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.] Sprinkle filling over dough rectangles. [Ds2 used a pastry scraper for an even layer and put a 2"-long double-layer from the end you begin rolling from.] If desired, sprinkle raisins and/or pecans- or apple, to make something reminiscent of the bear claw. Roll up each rectangle, starting from long side. Seal seams. Slice each roll into twelve pieces. [Ds2 used a length of floss to cut the dough into 1 inch thick but only eight pieces: slide floss under roll, pull up where you want to cut, bring the floss together and slice through the dough -- this trick he learned from his dear old Ma.] Place cut sides down in prepared pans or cookie sheets.

5. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap leaving room for rolls to rise. Chill for two to twenty-four hours. [At this stage, I think that they would freeze beautifully if you wanted to make a large batch and freeze for later use - no guarantees though!] Uncover; let stand at room temperature for thirty minutes to one hour (or to bake rolls right away, don't chill the dough, instead cover loosely; let dough rise in a warm place until nearly double, about thirty minutes.)

6. Break any surface bubbles with a greased toothpick. Brush dough with half-n-half. Bake in a 375°F oven for 20-25 minutes or until light brown (if necessary, cover rolls with foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning.) Remove from oven, brush again with half-n-half, cool for one minute. Carefully invert rolls onto wire rack. Cool slightly [I don't invert, no allow them to cool. Die rolls, die!]. Invert again onto a serving platter. Drizzle with vanilla glaze, serve warm [I use Cream Cheese Frosting instead of vanilla glaze.]

Vanilla Glaze:

For making glazed rolls, in a small bowl, stir together 1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1 t. light colored corn syrup and 1/2 t. vanilla. Add enough half-n-half or light cream (1 to 2 tablespoons) to reach drizzling consistency.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 eight-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 t. vanilla
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well. [This should frost the entire batch with some left over. Also, the original recipe called for SIX cups powdered sugar, but this recipe is PLENTY sweet.]

Until next time.

Categories: recipes