Blue Ribbon Cinnamon Rolls

Thursday, October 28, 2010

My mother is an expert bread maker. Growing up I saw her making homemade breads, cinnamon rolls, twisties, and dinner rolls. She gave bread making demonstrations all over the northern parts of Utah for several years. Growing up I only remember of 1 time we had “store bought” bread. When I was small it was my job to set the minute minder for 10 minutes and knead the dough by hand. 10 minutes seemed like an eternity–I’m glad we have bread mixers to do the kneading for us now! Her cinnamon roll recipe, an award winner, has been in the family for more than 60 years, and it’s a great one! I love working with the dough–it’s easy to work with, and the finished roll has perfect texture. The caramel frosting and sliced or chopped nuts on top make the big, delicious rolls unique. Posted here is the recipe for the rolls and the frosting.

It’s a tradition to have them for our annual Easter brunch with a quiche and fresh fruit. Or I make them quite often with chicken won ton salad and fruit for luncheons or showers, or, a favorite of the family, on Christmas morning.

The rolls freeze very well, but I don’t like to frost them before I freeze them–I don’t think the frosting unthaws well after freezing. They are great, however, and taste fresh out-of-the-oven if you take them out of the freezer, unthaw, then warm them up on LOW in the microwave (be very careful–you don’t want to re-cook bread in the microwave–it will ruin it), or even put them on a baking sheet and reheat on low in the oven, then frost them while still warm. The frosting will melt over them. Sprinkle with nuts immediately (or they won’t stay on).

Ingredients

Rolls

1/2 C instant potato flakes
1/2 C sugar
2 pint warm water
10 Tablespoons instant dry milk
2 Tablespoon yeast, softened in 1/2 Cup warm water
1/2 Cup shortening
2 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten
flour

Filling

1 Cube butter, softened and divided into 4ths
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 Cup sugar, divided into 4ths with the cinnamon.

Caramel Frosting

1 cube butter
1 1/2 Cup brown sugar, packed
pinch of salt

Instructions

Mix potato flakes, sugar, warm water, dry milk, shortening, salt and beaten eggs in bread mixer. Add 3 Cups flour and mix well. Add softened yeast and mix. Continue adding flour, 1 Cup at a time, until you’ve added enough to make a soft, elastic dough.
Let raise 1 hour. Punch down. Cover and let raise again for 45 minutes.
Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each out on a lightly greased surface and roll into a rectangle about 10X20.
Rub soft butter onto rectangle, leaving a 1-inch edge all around.
Sprinkle with 1/4 of the cinnamon/sugar mixture, leaving the same edge.
Roll up jelly roll fashion, sealing the edges by pinching dough together at seam.
Take a long piece of dental floss and lightly mark the rolled dough in half, and then mark equal sections to cut 12 rolls. Cut through with the dental floss by bringing the floss around the dough to the front and crossing over and pulling. This works GREAT! (No more smashed dough!)
Place on BIG school cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Evenly space the 12 cinnamon rolls on sheet. Flatten each roll with fingertips and then cover with a cotton towel and let raise until doubled in size–about 1 1/2 hours.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Immediately remove from baking pans and put on cooling rack. Then frost immediately with caramel frosting and sprinkle with sliced almonds or finely chopped pecans or walnuts.

Caramel Frosting

Melt butter in saucepan. Add salt and brown sugar. Melt the brown sugar, and bring to boiling. Boil and stir for 1 minute, stirring constantly. (This will be thick–but it will bubble). With an electric hand mixer, beat in 1 lb powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon vanilla, and enough evaporated milk to desired consistency. Beat until smooth. (If you need to thin it a little during the frosting of the 4 dozen rolls, you may do so with additional evaporated milk). Spread on warm cinnamon rolls, and immediately sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

NOTE: If desired, you can add raisins to the dough, and frost with vanilla frosting.