Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

On one of my trips to Target I was walking through the grocery section which I never do and I ran across yeast packets.  Where is she going with this?  I hadn't ever really worked with yeast before and thought, this is something everyone should have on hand if they want to make a tasty homemade treat.  So I bought the yeast and it sat in my pantry for a good 3 months before I finally found a recipe worth busting out my yeast for.  It was Betty Crocker's homemade cinnamon rolls and I couldn't wait to try this them this past weekend.

Ingredients

4 3/4 to 5 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 tablespoon half&half or light cream (not required)

Filling

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter

*I'd advise double the filling recipe for a super sweet filling.

Vanilla Glaze

1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp light colored corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

1-2 tablespoons milk (start with 1, add more if needed)

1 - In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups flour & yeast.  In a saucepan heat milk, 1/3 cup butter, granulated sugar, and salt until warm (120-130 degrees) and butter almost melts.  Add this to flour mixture along with eggs. Beat with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, stop to scrap sides then continue to beat on high speed for 3 minutes.  Stir in as much of the remaining flour as possible.

2 - Dust your countertop lightly with flour and turn dough out.  Knead in additional flour as needed until it's smooth, about 3-5 minutes.  Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turn once then cover and let rise in a warm place until it doubles (about 1 hour).

3 - Punch dough down in the bowl and turn out again on a floured surface.  Divide the dough in half.  Cover each half and let rest about 10 minutes.  While this is resting, lightly grease your 2-9inch round baking pans.  Begin making your filling by stirring together the brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour and cinnamon and cut in 1/3 cup butter until this mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4- Roll each half of dough into 12x8inch rectangle.  Sprinkle/spread filling over each rectangle.  Roll each rectangle starting from a long side.  Seal the seams and slice each roll into 12 pieces.  Place cut sides down in prepared pans.

5 - Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap leaving room to continue to rise.  Chill dough 2-24 hours (freeze your second batch if you're not planning to eat it all).  Uncover the refrigerated batch and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

6 - Brush dough with half & half/cream if desired.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until light brown (cover last 5-10 minutes to prevent over browning .  Remove from oven.  Brush with additional half&half/cream.  Cool for 1 minute then invert rolls onto a wire rack.  Cool for about 5 additional minutes then invert onto serving platter.  Drizzle with vanilla glaze. Serve warm.

This recipe will make 2-9inch round pans so if you're not planning to make enough to feed a large family or during a brunch, plan to freeze the second batch.

I will say you're going to need some time and some patience.  Start making this the night before so it can set in the fridge overnight.  First thing the next morning you're able to pop this in the oven pretty quickly for a tasty breakfast treat!

-stephanie