For the dough you will need:
- 1 Packet active dry yeast
- 8 cups sifted flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 pint (16 ozs.) lukewarm milk
- 1 cup soften butter
- 1 tsp salt
- Powered sugar
Dissolve yeast in a large bowl in one cup of warm milk, add 1 cup of flour, cover and let raise a little. Cream in butter. sugar, eggs and salt. Then add remaining flour and milk until a good ball of dough is formed. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, place in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Once the dough has doubled, heavily spread powered sugar out on the table (to prevent the dough from sticking) and roll the dough out to form a long thin rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Now you are ready for the filling.
For the filling you will need:
- Brown sugar
- Melted butter (one stick)
- Cinnamon
- Chopped nuts (optimal)
Spread about half of the melted butter all over the top of the rolled dough then heavily sprinkle on the cinnamon, cover all the dough evenly. Next pile on the brown sugar (don't be shy) lay it on thick, this will form a caramel once baked. Now comes time to roll the dough jelly roll style, starting at one of the long ends of the rectangle, start rolling slowly and evenly. Remember to stretch the roll outwards as rolling to increase it's length, once done the cinnamon roll should look like this light brown slimy snake on your table. (yummy)
It is now time to cut the cinnamon rolls, some use a knife but Mother Scarecrow taught me to use a string to get the beat cuts with delicate pastries such as this. Simply lift the end of the roll and slide a length of stout string under the dough and crossing them over at the top, then by pulling both ends, the string cuts evenly from all directions and the roll stays intact. Repeat until all the rolls are cut and place them on a greased baking sheet, cover and let raise another hour. (I know, spend more time raising and not eating, but the wait is worth it)
Preheat the oven to 350º degrees and brush the tops of each roll with the remaining melted butter (which by now needed remelted), sprinkle on some more brown sugar and they are ready to go in the oven. Bake at 350º degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, remove and set to slightly cool on a wire rack before drizzling on the final toping.
For the topping you will need:
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla or Almond extract
In a large cup, fill it with a goodly amount of powdered sugar and add small amounts of milk to get it to mix with a fork, you want this thick. Add a small amount of vanilla or almond extract (I prefer almond) to the glaze for flavoring. If it is too thick, add more milk, too thin add more powdered sugar, use your own judgement. Once mixed, drizzle over the warm cinnamon rolls and that is it.
Now you have the power to make the kids clean up your mess if they want some. (ha ha ha)
Hope you enjoy them.
