Winter Cinnamon Rolls ~

Num, num.  :)  It might be more accurate to say that I make this in joyful anticipation of an upcoming Winter season. 

For Miss Annie

I make cinnamon rolls about once a year.  They are up there in the top five Hard-to-Resist list for me.  Monday I made a batch of cinnamon rolls.  This being Wednesday evening I still feel like I ate too many.  *oy*  Tuesday morning I woke with a sugar headache, that doesn't happen often...but considering much I've not been eating white flour/sugar combos since the first of the year, I'm not surprised.  

Aside from that, I made cinnamon rolls while Annabelle was on a three day school camp trip.  Oops.  Big oops in a child's mind.  I might have been a baker at one time, but my children did not get a steady treat of baked goods.  Last night, I fully realized that Annie finding out we had cinnamon rolls while she was gone was not going to go over well.  I made a different recipe today, a better one.  This time I didn't eat a single one.  I did try a piece....for testing sake...to see if I want to keep this recipe.  (I do, but it's not the favorite one.)  Annie indeed was not happy when I said I made rolls, she interrupted me mid-story asking, "Did you save one for me?!!!"  I said no...she pouted...I said I made a fresh batch.  Quick smile and satisfaction in her eyes.  Yay.  She's home, she's sleeping, she liked her cinnamon rolls, she said she missed us, loves us and repeated several times tonight that she is so happy to be home.  Not because camping wasn't fun, it was.  Because she loves who live in this little cozy run down old house.  I feel loved and centered.


I didn't realize until this post how close to a year it has been.  Happy cinnamon rolls to you!

This recipe, using yeast ~ is sharing company with other yeast recipes at The Wild Yeast blog.


 1/2 c. butter melted
1 c. milk - I used 2%
4 tsp. yeast
1/4 water, 105-ish degrees
2 eggs, room temp.
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
5 c. flour -  bread flour or unbleached all-purpose is fine


Interior ~

1/2 c. butter, either softened or melted and cooled, but not set.
1 c. brown sugar, packed
5 T. cinnamon
Optional nuts and cinnamon

• Melt butter in a saucepan, remove from heat.  Add milk to warm. 
• Proof yeast with the water, in a mixer bowl if using a stand mixer.  Let stand 10 minutes.
• Add eggs, sugar, salt to the yeast, mix.  If using a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment.
• Add three cups flour, mix thoroughly.
• Add the fourth cup and continue to mix to shaggy.  Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook if using a stand mixer.
• Add the fifth cup of flour, knead a few minutes or three to five minutes with a mixer.
• Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then resume kneading for another 3-5 minutes until smooth.

Note here -- I'm in a dry part of the states, so five cups flour gives me a nice smooth dough....if in the South, you might need a little more - but remember...a little tacky is better than a little tough when it comes to possibly adding more flour. 

• Put dough in a greased bowl and let rise until double.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface to approx. 15" deep x 24" wide.
• Schmear butter over dough except for the front one inch.  Sprinkle on sugar mixture.
• Roll from the 24" side.  Seal seam.
• Cut in half and each half in half in eighths.
• Place in a buttered 10" round or whatever you have where they fit and none are touching.  
• Cover loosely and let rise until double.
• Preheat oven to 350-375, your choice.  Bake 25-35 minutes until nicely golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a doughy area. 
• Let loved ones enjoy warm.  If they are children, let them have two when they ask if they can have another.  Okay - it's only Former Little Dude that asks and he's trim...so he can.  :) 

We didn't feel like adding icing, we tend to like not-to-sugary treats and these are sugary enough....but FLD and I being the critic team came to the conclusion they would be very good with cream cheese icing...yes, they would!

Before the oven