Cinnamon Rolls

I hope you all had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend!  We enjoyed Fathers Day so much because we got to hang out with The Hubs ALL DAY on Sunday! He works so hard all week that it was nice to be able to just focus all day on him!  It was so nice! 

I attempted to be a good wife and make him homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast (which until then, I had never made homemade rolls before) but with this great and easy recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything they turned out great!  There really is nothing like waking up to the whole house smelling of cinnamon goodness and eating a warm and comforting cinnamon roll! :)

Recipe:

1 cup warm milk 

2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour or regular flour (bread flour makes for a lighter cinnamon roll)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pkg yeast (1/4 ounce)


Filling:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened


Icing:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt


Microwave milk for 45-60 seconds in the microwave. Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well. Knead dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. *Our house is so cold I have a hard time getting things to rise. If I turn on the oven and then put the rolls on top of the stove, the oven generates enough heat for them to rise.


In a small bowl, thoroughly combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Spray surface with cooking spray or sprinkle flour on it. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread dough with 1/3 cup softened butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough starting with the longer side and cut into 12 rolls (or more smaller rolls). Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. *After this I would put them in the refrigerator for the next morning if you are doing them the night before.


Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on while they are still warm so that the frosting melts into the roll. 

(Recipe Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything)