Cinnamon rolls

There's a holiday tradition in our family that goes a little something like this: Block out one whole day for baking cinnamon rolls, spend entire 12-hours in kitchen, cover every surface with sticky cinnamon and sugar, and a scattering of flour for good measure, deliver all eleventy trillion rolls to friends and neighbors, collapse.

And with that rousing endorsement, I want to introduce you to our cinnamon rolls. They really are fantastic. And if you just make two dozen, it's not a big undertaking.

Please. Don't be afraid of the yeast. Working with yeast is not hard. It just takes a couple of steps.

Here's what you need and how you do it

3 teaspoons dry active yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup warm (but not hot) water

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon oil or cooking spray

1-2 cups sugar

3 Tablespoons cinnamon, adjusted to suit your taste

3 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Combine warm water and sugar in small bowl, add yeast and stir. Allow to proof for 10 minutes.

In heavy duty mixer with dough hook, or with a large spoon, combine yeast mixture with flour, nutmeg and salt. Knead with dough hook or turn out on board and knead until smooth and elastic. Transfer to oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until double, about 1 hour.

Melt butter or margarine in bowl. Combine cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

When dough has risen, punch down and divide into strips about 4 inches long. Dip each strip in butter, then in cinnamon-sugar. Tie strip into a knot and place in greased baking dish (we use cake pans). Cover lightly with a dish cloth. Allow to rise 1/2 to 1 hour.

When risen, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm. These reheat nicely in the microwave too.

For a printer-friendly version, click here.

Updated: My half-assery has been put to shame by this great looking recipe for pan cinnamon buns that require only 15 minutes of rising time. Yum!

Comments

[leslie]

They are beautiful! I love your half assed recipes :) How do you tie them? do you mean like the beginning of tying your shoes without a bow? Wher are the ends of the dough? Thanks Leslie

[All Adither]

Yes, like at the beginning of tying your shoes without a bow. One end ends up on top and one underneath. The good part is, it doesn't matter how neatly it turns out really. The cinnamon and sugar cover most any flaw.

[jessica]

could you make the dough and assemble the buns the day before and then bake them the following morning? Or do you think it would be better to just make them the day before and reheat the following morning? these look really yummy and I'd liek to make them for Christmas morning, but I won't have the time to do everything then.

[All Adither]

Jessica, I make the rolls, cook them and freeze them weeks ahead of time. Then I reheat in the oven (or in the microwave if I'm just doing one or two). If you make them early without baking, that should work, though they may not turn out quite as puffy.

[jessica]

Oh, making nad baking them days ahead is even better! thank you!

[Jennifer Zerangue]

These look great! I was just contemplating making cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning and may try them this way instead of the traditional "roll/sprinkle/cut" method.

For the person who posted about making them ahead, this might work ... I have made cinnamon rolls the night before and then put them in the fridge (covered). In the morning, I just baked in a preheated oven until they were browned, and they rose up great - rose a little in the fridge and more in the oven.

[Lauren]

These look great and my family has similar obsessive food traditions - I'm glad that I'm not alone. I can't wait to try them soon. Cheers!

[Carianne]

I tried making these and found the dough ended up waaay too dry. I would recommend only using three cups of flour and then slowly adding more as needed. Otherwise I ended up with a flaky dough that needed more moisture and ended up being too heavy to rise properly. The idea is fantastic though and I will definitely make a similar type of cinnamon roll in the future

[All Adither]

That's interesting. I've been making these for years and have never had that problem. Were you using all-purpose flour?

In any case, it never does hurt to add that last cup of flour slowly. Thanks for your input!

Angie, Half Assed Kitchen

[Lisa Richardson]

These look really really good!