Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

A few days ago This Chick spent a few hours with the Miracles making Homemade Cinnamon Rolls while That Dude did some work and the Dog (Dela) stared at us from her view on the back porch between the window panes of the french doors. She can be at the far back of the yard, yet instinctively she knows when we start cooking.

We used a recipe from our Watkins Vanilla Classic Recipes Cookbook. Therefore, some ingredients call for Watkins brand products. We did not use those products. We used what we had on-hand and still had amazing results.

 My advice after making these:

1. Make sure you read the directions first. There are several times that you will have waiting time while your dough rises.

2. Gather all your ingredients first and measure them out. To me, this makes the process much smoother.

3. If you prefer a thicker and sweeter icing, consider making your own cream cheese icing instead of the glaze used in this recipe. We LOVED these cinnamon rolls, but all agreed that cream cheese icing would have been amazing!

*I will include a basic cream cheese icing below the cinnamon roll recipe. It is delicious and very simple.

Homemade Cinnamon Roll Ingredients

4 ¼ to 4 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 package quick-rising active dry yeast

1 ¼ cups plus 4 to 5 teaspoons milk, divided

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup (½ stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened, divided

2 teaspoons Watkins vanilla, divided

5 teaspoons Watkins ground cinnamon, divided

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Combine 1 ½ cups flour and yeast in large bowl, set aside.

In saucepan, heat 1 ¼ cups milk, granulated sugar, ¼ cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and salt just until mixture is warm (120 F to 130 F), stirring constantly.

Add this to the flour mixture along with the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer at low speed for 30 seconds, scraping side of bowl often. Beat at high speed for 3 minutes.

Stir in as much remaining flour as possible with spoon (dough will be soft). Knead in enough remaining flour to form moderately soft dough, 3 to 5 minutes total. Shape dough into a ball; place in lightly greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise in warm place about 1 to 1 ½ hours until double in size. (Dough is ready to shape when you can lightly press two fingers ½ inch into dough and indentation remains.) Punch down dough and divide in half. Place each half on lightly floured surface and smooth into a ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Roll half of dough into 12 x 8 inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. Spread with 3 tablespoons butter. Combine brown sugar and remaining 4 teaspoons cinnamon; sprinkle half of mixture over dough. Roll up dough from short side; seal edge by brushing with water. Repeat with remaining dough. Slice one roll into 8 pieces and the other into 7 pieces. (According to recipe, but will depend on how thin/thick you slice your pieces). Arrange slices cut sides up in prepared pan. Cover; let rise about 30 minutes or until nearly doubled.

Bake for 25 to 40 minutes or until light brown. (Ours baked in about 20 minutes, so make sure to check your rolls often). Immediately invert rolls onto wire rack, then invert again. Cool slightly on wire rack. Combine powdered sugar, remaining 4 teaspoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla in small bowl; drizzle glaze over rolls. Serve warm or store in airtight container.

Basic Cream Cheese Icing/Frosting Ingredients

8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered/confectioner’s sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Beat softened butter and cream cheese until well blended.

Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy.

Right out of the oven--before icing. Oh, so good!