Oh So Yummy! Cinnamon Rolls

By Addie

Nothing is better than waking up to the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls baking in the oven, all that aroma of cinnamon lingering through the house. I found a recipe at How To Cook Like Your Grandmother. Those homemade cinnamon rolls looked so good I couldn't pass up the challenge. Don't you have someone special you want to bake these wonderful cinnamon rolls for?

Ingredients

• DOUGH:
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter (4 tablespoons, half stick)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons yeast (one package)
• 1/4 cup warm water (105°-115°)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-1/2 cups bread flour
• .................................
• FILLING:
• 1/4 cup butter (4 tablespoons, half stick)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• (optional) raisins
• .............................
• GLAZE:
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Step 1

Start by scalding the milk. Scalding breaks down a protein in the whey that can keep the dough from rising as much. In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, bring the milk nearly to a boil. When a film starts to form on the top, turn off the heat and skim it off with a spoon.

Add the sugar, salt, and the first half-stick of butter and stir until the sugar and butter are both melted. Set the milk/butter mixture aside to cool to room temperature.In a separate bowl, combine the yeast and warm water and stir quickly.

Stir in the egg. Add the milk/butter mixture. (Make sure it's cooled down to room temperature or you'll kill the yeast.) Add the flour and stir until the flour is all incorporated and the dough comes together in a soft, loose ball. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil (I always use extra virgin olive) to a clean bowl.

Roll the dough around until it is oiled all over, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a wet dish towel. This will keep the dough from drying out and forming a skin, which would keep it from rising.

Put the bowl someplace warm, not hot -- inside the stove, turned off but with the light turned on is about perfect -- until the dough has doubled in volume, about an hour-and-a-half. Once the dough has risen, punch it down to deflate it.Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth and satiny.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle about an eighth-inch thick. Soften the butter, but don't melt it. Spread it evenly onto the dough. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread the cinnamon mixture evenly over the dough and roll it up. cut into rolls and oil a baking sheet and arrange the rolls with room in between.

Place the baking sheet in the oven -- turned off but with the light on again -- until the dough warms up and the rolls double in size. Then turn the oven temperature to 400° and bake for 10-15 minutes, until they are golden brown on top. Arrange the rolls on your serving dish, and prepare the glaze. Pour it over the rolls.