{Recipe} Easy Cinnamon Rolls..... from scratch!

Happy New Year!

Can't believe 2013 has come and gone and 2014 has sneaked up on us! To bring 2013 to a close, I made a few goals for the month of December and just accomplished my last one by making Cinnamon Rolls from scratch! (or...as "from scratch" as one could make Cinnamon rolls, at least!)

One of the things I was most excited about was making my own dough. In the past, I used Pilsbury Crescent to make my Cinnamon Rolls. I loved it for its convenience, but after this experience, I may never go back! Making dough was so much easier than I thought - and it's fun/exciting too! For my dough, I dissolved my yeast in some warm water, scalded some milk, melted some butter and had some sugar/salt handy. 

I mixed the flour in and kneaded my dough. "Kneaded" is such a weird word! We then let our dough rise in the fridge for about 2 hours and it basically doubled in size! We were amazed.

Punching the dough was my fave. (I liked it so much I forgot to take a picture!) Then we rolled out our dough on a lightly floured surface, a.k.a my dining table covered with cling wrap. 

We cut the corners to make the edges more even. Then we buttered it up and bedazzled it with generous portions of brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Then, it gets rolled up! We tried to do it was tight as we could, pinched the edges to hold the shape and used butter to seal it together in the end. 

Then you cut it up into sections. One roll made 12 pieces of Cinnamon Rolls for us! We placed the pieces close together on our buttered bakeware. Then it gets some more butter on top! Paula Dean would be proud.

We left it in the fridge until we were ready to bake it and it actually doubled in size again! We put just a little more butter on top prior to popping it in the oven. 25-30 minutes in 350 degrees should do it. Make your frosting with a splash of milk, a little bit of melted butter, some vanilla extract and a generous portion of powdered sugar. Voila, Cinnamon Rolls! This was totally husband approve - he ate two!

Hopefully we can make this a holiday tradition for our family. or a monthly tradition. teehehe : )

Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Recipe from Food Network (Thanks Jess C. for the rec!)

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1/4-ounce package yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup scalded milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour Filling:
• 1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional Glaze:
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.